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CLEVELAND — Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted has emerged as a late and leading contender to succeed Vice President-elect JD Vance in the Senate, three Republicans familiar with the process said Friday.
Gov. Mike DeWine will appoint a replacement once Vance resigns his Senate seat — something that must happen before Vance and President-elect Donald Trump take office Jan. 20.
What’s not yet clear is if Husted would accept an appointment, which would run through a special election in 2026 to fill the remaining two years of Vance’s term. But some GOP insiders believe the job is Husted’s if he wants it.
“If Husted wants to serve this way, it’s there,” a person familiar with the discussions said.
Husted, 57, has long held ambitions of being governor and has passed on running for Senate in previous elections. He also has been aggressively preparing a campaign to succeed the term-limited DeWine in two years.
“Nothing to share on the topic,” Husted responded via text message to NBC News when asked specifically about the Senate seat and his conversations with Trump about his political future.
Two people briefed on those conversations said that DeWine and Husted met with Trump last month at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Husted, one of the sources said, was eager for Trump’s endorsement in what is expected to be a crowded Republican primary for governor.
Such a development would serve as a preemptive strike against businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, the one-time GOP presidential candidate whom Trump has chosen to lead a government efficiency task force alongside billionaire Elon Musk.
Ramaswamy, who lives in Ohio, is widely regarded there as a future candidate for statewide office. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and state Treasurer Robert Sprague are among the other GOP prospects for governor in 2016, and neither has indicated that a Husted candidacy would affect their plans.
The two people briefed on the Mar-a-Lago meeting, which was first reported by WEWS Channel 5, the ABC affiliate in Cleveland, said that the Senate appointment was also discussed, but that Trump made no commitments to Husted. DeWine has said he wants his pick for Vance’s Senate seat to be someone who can win a competitive primary — a dynamic that makes Trump’s blessing key.
Dan Tierney, a spokesperson for DeWine’s office, confirmed to NBC News that DeWine visited Mar-a-Lago last month but declined to share any details of the governor’s agenda while there. Tierney also did not comment on the chances of Husted being appointed to the Senate.
Aside from Husted, former state GOP chair Jane Timken and state Rep. Jay Edwards are among the Republicans whom DeWine is seriously considering for the Vance seat, two sources familiar with the discussions said. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost his seat last fall, has not ruled out running for the seat in next year’s special election.
DeWine and Husted have been close allies since they ran together in 2018. Husted had plans to seek the governorship that year, as well, but he agreed to join DeWine’s ticket as the candidate for lieutenant governor. Husted also has been close with Ramaswamy, who informally advised him during the pandemic and served on the board for the Husted-led InnovateOhio agency.
But DeWine’s political capital in Trump world amounts to little. Last year, the governor endorsed against Trump-backed Bernie Moreno in the primary for Ohio’s other Senate seat. Trump and his allies branded DeWine as a Republican in name only, or RINO.
Moreno easily won the primary and then unseated Brown. He took office Friday.
Henry J. Gomez is a senior national political reporter for NBC News
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