Gov. Mike DeWine announced Lt. Gov. Jon Husted as his pick to replace Vice President-elect JD Vance in the U.S. Senate Friday afternoon.
Vance resigned his Ohio Senate seat last week. His replacement will serve in the Senate for two years and must run in the November 2026 election if he or she wants to keep the seat. The winner will fill out the remainder of Vance’s term, which ends in 2028.
Opinion poll:Should DeWine follow Trump’s instructions and appoint Vivek Ramaswamy senator?
Speculation about who DeWine will choose has run rampant.
Husted was long seen as the front runner, but he was weighing whether to accept the appointment or pursue a run for governor in 2026. DeWine also met recently with former presidential candidate and Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, a suburban Columbus resident who grew up near Cincinnati. President-elect Donald Trump urged Ramaswamy to take the Senate seat if it was offered.
Other Republicans who expressed interest in the vacant Senate seat included former Ohio Republican Party chair Jane Timken, U.S. Rep. Mike Carey, R-Columbus, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose.
Haley BeMiller covers state government and politics for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
