Family asks National Republican Senatorial Committee to remove pro-Husted ad showing deadly crash

The loved ones of a deceased family at the center of an Ohio U.S. Senate race ad being run by the National Republican Senatorial Committee in favor of Ohio Republican U.S. Sen. Jon Husted are asking for it to be taken down. 

Lynnea Soposki, Luke Soposki, and their one-year-old son Logan Soposki died in a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 71 in Delaware County in April. Modou Ngom, an immigrant who came to the United States in the 1990s, was the driver that caused the crash. 

The National Republican Senatorial Committee started airing an ad earlier this month showing footage of the crash that killed the Soposkis while claiming former Democratic Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s votes on immigration caused Ngom to enter the country. 

“Sherrod Brown opened our borders to dangerous illegals. The consequences were deadly. … Because of him, Ohioans paid the price,” the 30-second NRSC ad claims.   

Brown is challenging Husted in the November election. 

“Lynnea and Luke were not political symbols. Lynnea was a beloved veterinarian. Luke loved to brew beer. … They loved each other and their son,” according to a statement from the family of Lynnea, Luke, and Logan Soposki. 

“Our grief is not raw material for a campaign, and their images are not public property to repurpose for anyone’s advantage.” 

The family said they were not asked, nor would they have consented, to the Soposkis being in the ad. The statement said the photograph was taken by Anton Marandi, who has the copyright of the photo, and did not give his permission. 

“We are asking that the advertisement be taken down, and that our family’s images and this tragedy not be used in political messaging by any campaign, going forward. We would ask the same of any candidate, of any party, who did this.”

The ad featuring the Soposki family has run its full cycle, according to a source familiar with the ad traffic, but the ad still remains on the NRSC’s YouTube page. 

“For 32 years, radical leftist Sherrod Brown backed open border policies that cost Ohioans their lives, without ever apologizing,” NRSC Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia said in an email. “Our ad campaigns will continue to hold Sherrod Brown accountable.”

The Soposki family said they sent both an email and certified mail to Husted’s campaign asking for the ad to be taken down, but never received a reply.  

The Husted campaign did not respond to questions sent by the Ohio Capital Journal. 

Brown served in the U.S. House from 1993-2007, and then was in the U.S. Senate from 2007-2025, before losing to Ohio Republican U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno in the 2024 Election.

FactCheck.org said the ad has “weak ties” between Brown and the car crash that killed the Soposkis. 

Brown voted against a 1996 immigration bill that would have increased the number of Board Patrol agents, constructed border fencing and fast-tracked deportations. The bill was then rolled into an omnibus appropriations bill that Brown voted for and then President Bill Clinton signed it into law. 

“Brown’s initial vote against the immigration bill made no difference in terms of what became law,” according to FactCheck.org. 

“It’s also difficult to say how passing or not passing the legislation would’ve had an impact on Ngom, given we have scant details about him and his immigration to the U.S.”

The Cook Political Report rates Ohio’s U.S. Senate race as a “Toss Up.” 

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