Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted To Replace JD Vance In U.S. Senate

Liz Skalka

Updated 17 January 2025 at 6:10 pm·1-min read

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted will join the U.S. Senate, filling the seat formerly held by Vice President-elect JD Vance.

Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced his pick of Husted to succeed Vance in a news conference Friday afternoon. Husted has been Ohio lieutenant governor since 2019.

Husted was widely thought to be gearing up for a run for Ohio governor in 2026 to replace DeWine, who is term-limited. But Vance’s ascension to VP created an early vacancy for his seat and scrambled plans for some Ohio Republicans.

Republican Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, seen speaking during an election night watch party in 2022, will fill the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by JD Vance. Jay LaPrete/File via Associated Press

It was up to DeWine to pick a replacement for Vance — though it was generally understood that President-elect Donald Trump would have a major say in the appointment. DeWine recently met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago to discuss the matter.

Reporting this week revealed that Trump had encouraged ally Vivek Ramaswamy, a co-lead with billionaire Elon Musk of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, to seek the seat. Ramaswamy, who owns a stake in BuzzFeed, HuffPost’s parent company, is thought to have designs on becoming Ohio governor after DeWine.

Husted will fill Vance’s seat at least until a special election in 2026. Neither DeWine nor Husted are major players in MAGA world, and it’s not clear how Husted would fare in a GOP primary if he chooses to run in the special election to fill out the remainder of Vance’s term through 2028.

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