Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted are among the names being mentioned to fill Vance’s seat.
Now that Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) is vice president-elect, he must step down from his seat and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is tasked by state law to select his replacement.
DeWine is widely regarded as part of the Republican Party’s establishment wing. He has drawn criticism from President-elect Donald Trump, and the two political figures have been at odds at times.
Contenders for the post are not officially known, but the names that have been mentioned in published reports over the past week include biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, State Sen. Matt Dolan, Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, and former Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken.
None of the aforementioned figures have publicly expressed interest in Vance’s post, but an Ohio Republican strategist with close ties to the state Legislature in Columbus told The Epoch Times that he believes DeWine’s decision “will have sign off from everybody involved, from team Trump and Team Vance to DeWine and those aligned with him in the Ohio Republican party.”
After last week’s election, Trump has now won Ohio three times. He prevailed by eight percentage points in both 2016 and 2020, and 11 points this year.
Vance started his freshman term in January 2023.
DeWine will select a Republican to fill Vance’s Senate seat until a special election is held in November 2026 to decide who serves the rest of Vance’s term, which ends in 2028. The winner of the 2026 special election will have to run again in 2028 for a new six-year term.
“It has to be someone who will serve well in the Senate. I think I have a pretty good idea of what it takes,” said DeWine, who served two terms in the U.S. Senate.
“This is not for the faint-hearted,” he said. “This is not for someone who just wants to get a seat. This has to be someone who really wants to do the job and do the work, and who we think has the ability to do that.”
DeWine told reporters that “a lot of people are calling. We’re just going through the process of starting to think about this and see who would be the best person.”
Speculation has mounted over the ideal candidate for Vance’s seat.
“I think it comes down to three people—Vivek Ramaswamy, Jon Husted, and Dave Yost,” the Ohio Republican strategist told The Epoch Times.
“Vivek Ramaswamy holds all the cards,” he said.
Ramaswamy, a 39-year-old biotech entrepreneur, was born and raised in Ohio. He ascended onto the national spotlight when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination before leaving the race and endorsing Trump.
When asked by ABC’s “This Week” on Nov. 10 if he will be part of Trump’s second administration, Ramaswamy said he was having “high-impact discussions” about a role.
“There’s a couple great options on the table,” Ramaswamy said, responding to Jonathan Karl’s comment about Vance’s soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat and the position of Homeland Security Secretary.
“I want to have the biggest possible impact on this country,” he said.
In September, Ramaswamy hosted a town hall in Springfield, the southwest Ohio community confronted with a Haitian migrant crisis.
During the forum, a citizen stepped to the microphone and told Ramaswamy that he should run for governor, drawing loud applause from the audience.
Ramaswamy smiled and responded, “I’m more inclined to do that now than I was 10 seconds ago.”
The strategist said Husted’s team would rather Ramaswamy express interest in the Senate seat or accept a position in Trump’s administration instead of running for governor.
“They don’t want to go up against him in a primary,” he said.
“I think what people like about Vivek Ramaswamy is that he speaks what he believes. Whether he thinks you’re going to agree with it or disagree with it, or whatever it is, Vivek doesn’t share his opinion based upon popular belief.
“I think people find that refreshing,” he added.
Should Ramaswamy join Trump’s administration, DeWine could appoint Yost to the Senate seat if the attorney general accepted, a move that would open a clearer path for Husted to become governor.
Husted dropped out of the 2018 gubernatorial race to join DeWine’s ticket.
A handful of GOP sources in Ohio told The Epoch Times that Timken is also a potential replacement for Vance.
Jane Timken
Timken, 58, served as the Ohio Republican Party chair from 2017 to 2021. She stepped down from that position to run for U.S. Senate and lost in the primary, finishing fifth in a race won by Trump-backed Vance.
Timken is a “uniter” who was “gracious when she lost in 2022,” said Katie DeLand, who is chair of the Darke County Republican Party in western Ohio and served on Ohio’s Republican State Central Committee when Timken led the state GOP.
“She played a big role in getting President Trump elected, and she brought together the different factions within the Republican Party across Ohio,” DeLand told The Epoch Times.
“She’d be the first female senator from a state like Ohio, and she is well-qualified as an Ivy League-educated attorney and a former county magistrate,” DeLand added.
“She didn’t burn any bridges after the 2022 GOP primary. She has continued to be a vocal Trump supporter and she is an ally to JD Vance.”
Dolan, LaRose, Yost
Dolan has served in the Ohio state Senate since 2017 and was a state representative for the previous five years.
He ran in the Ohio U.S. Senate Republican primary in 2022, when Vance won, and earlier this year when Bernie Moreno prevailed.
DeWine endorsed Dolan in this year’s primary.
Trump has criticized Dolan for his moderate views and his family’s decision to change the name of Cleveland’s Major League Baseball’s franchise from the Indians to the Guardians.
LaRose, 45, is Ohio’s Secretary of State. He was endorsed by Trump when he was re-elected to his post in 2022. Trump backed Moreno in this year’s Republican U.S. Senate primary and LaRose placed a distant third behind Moreno and Dolan.
Yost, 67, served two terms as state auditor and was elected to a second term as attorney general in 2022. He is currently running for governor.
“Whoever he appoints to the United States Senate seat has to be able to win a Republican primary in 2026 so if you appoint somebody that the Republican primary electorate has denied previously, that puts that individual in a very tough spot,” an Ohio Republican strategist told The Epoch Times.