COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Ohio Gov. Jon Husted will replace JD Vance in the upper house of Congress as the former senator prepares to be inaugurated as vice president.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Husted’s appointment during a news conference Friday following Vance’s White House victory in 2024 alongside President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn in in the capital on January 20th. Now Husted will serve in the Senate until a special election in November 2026, where Ohioans can then decide who will complete Vance’s term, which runs through 2028.
“I believe and know that Jon is ready to become a United States senator from the state of Ohio,” said DeWine, who will now also have to name a recent lieutenant governor. “The U.S. Senate rewards hard workers. He rewards those who master the facts. It rewards those who focus on getting things done.”
Ohio billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy He was also rumored to be interestedHowever, he initially withdrew from consideration shortly after the November election. However, a report from the Washington Post on January 15th revealed that Trump encouraged Ramaswamy to take the seat.
Ramaswamy was born in Cincinnati is now planning to launch a gubernatorial election in 2026according to The Hill. If Ramaswamy does run, he won’t have to face Husted, who was considered a potential Republican candidate. Still, Ramaswamy would probably run against him Attorney General Dave Yost in the primary and possibly former state health director Amy Actona Democrat, in November 2026.
Husted grew up in Williams County in northwest Ohio and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Dayton, where he was an All-American defensive back for the Flyers. Husted subsequently served as Speaker of the Ohio House, as a state senator, and as Ohio Secretary of State, and was elected lieutenant governor in 2018.
After Friday’s announcement, Husted told NBC4 he was “just a servant” and that he would “not self-congratulatory say I’m better than all these other people.”
“[DeWine] “I know that I care about economic development, jobs, education and our state’s middle-class working families, and I understand how policies at the federal government level impact Ohio,” Husted said. “And I think he just trusted me that I would do a job, a job where I represented Ohio well with integrity and passion.”
DeWine previously told NBC4 that he had had several conversations with potential candidates, but remained tight-lipped about who he was considering. Husted emerged as the leading candidatewhile other candidates in the mix included former Senate candidate Jane Timken, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Treasurer Robert Sprague, State Senator Matt Dolan and attorney Mehek Cooke.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday following the announcement a recent defense manufacturing facility in Pickaway CountyDeWine said, “The person I select will truly understand Ohio and be an advocate for Ohio.”
“This is a huge task, it is a very important task. It is particularly important at this time in our history,” the governor said. “This is a dangerous time, both for our national defense and our foreign policy. Frankly, we expect U.S. Senators to focus on this. Whoever I choose needs to focus on this.”
When asked before the November election whether Husted was interested in replacing Vance, the lieutenant governor told NBC4 that the Trump-Vance ticket was needed to secure a victory first. When NBC4 asked and asked again on Jan. 8, Husted said, “We are considering all options. And you know, that’s really all I have to say.”
Vance resigned his seat on January 9marking the end of a two-year term as Ohio’s junior senator he defeated Democratic challenger Tim Ryan in 2022 to fill the vacancy left by former Republican Senator Rob Portman.
Vance, a venture capitalist known as the author of the 2016 memoir and Netflix film “Hillbilly Elegy,” was swept to victory in a crowded Ohio Senate primary in 2022 Receiving coveted support from Trump.
The 40-year-old will be the first vice president from Ohio and was the first vice presidential candidate from Ohio since 1944. As a senator, the Middletown native described himself as a defender of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” agenda and reversing the Biden administration’s “unnecessary spending.” and double the security of the border between the USA and Mexico.
