Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also met with Vivek Ramaswamy and several Ohio elected officials before making the decision days before Trump’s inauguration.
Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine named Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to fill Vice-President-elect JD Vance’s U.S. Senate seat in a Jan. 17 announcement.
Vance resigned from his Senate seat earlier this month in preparation for joining President-elect Donald Trump as vice president.
DeWine, who served two terms in the U.S. Senate, was tasked by state law to select his replacement.
“I think I have a pretty good idea of what it takes to succeed in the United States Senate,” DeWine said in a Jan. 17 press conference.
“The process we went through took a while because of the gravity of this decision. I interviewed a large number of people. There were many people who I considered very qualified to serve in the United States Senate to represent the state, but I came to the conclusion that the person who is best suited to be the United States senator is a person who has been close to me for the last six years.”
DeWine is widely regarded as part of the Republican Party’s establishment wing. He has drawn criticism from Trump, and the two political figures have been at odds at times.
Vivek Ramaswamy, an Ohio native and resident who ran for president in the Republican primary last year, was seen as a possible replacement for Vance. Earlier this week, Trump recommended Ramaswamy for the Senate post.
After Trump won in November 2024, speculation mounted that Ohio state Sen. Matt Dolan (R-District 24), Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio), former Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken, and Ohio State Treasurer Robert Sprague were also possibilities.
In November 2024, 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.”
Trump has 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.
Husted will occupy Vance’s Senate seat until a special election is held in November 2026 to decide who will serve 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.
He joins Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), who defeated longtime Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown in November 2024, and Ohio’s Senate tandem.
Ramaswamy entered the national spotlight when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination before leaving the race and endorsing Trump.
He was tasked by Trump to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency with Elon Musk. The intended date for DOGE to end is July 4, 2026.
Wes Farno, an Ohio-based Republican strategist, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 17 that Husted’s appointment could lead to “a chain reaction of open seats.”
“It will be interesting to see if Husted will face a primary challenge in 2026. Also, who will Gov. DeWine appoint to replace Husted, and will that candidate run for governor?” Farno asked.
DeWine’s decision creates a clearer path for Ramaswamy to run for governor, Farno said.
In September 2024, 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.”
Another Ohio Republican strategist told The Epoch Times in November 2024 that 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.”
Husted dropped out of the 2018 gubernatorial race to join DeWine’s ticket. DeWine was reelected to a second term in 2022.
“We have worked to make Ohio great again, and I look forward to working with President Trump and JD Vance to make America great again,” Husted said on Jan. 17.
Some moderate Republicans in Ohio were hopeful that DeWine would appoint Dolan, who 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 in 2024, when Moreno prevailed.
DeWine endorsed Dolan in the 2024 Republican primary.