Lt. Gov. Husted to take Vance's Senate seat

COLUMBUS (AP) — Republican Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted will succeed Vice President-elect JD Vance in the U.S. Senate, Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Friday. DeWine's decision ends months of jockeying among top Ohio Republicans for Vance's position, which he had held for less than two years. Vance resigned his Senate seat Jan. 10. Choosing Husted, who had been positioning to run for governor in 2026, potentially averts a divisive and expensive GOP primary for the governor's race. The 57-year-old Husted, a former Ohio House speaker and two-term Ohio secretary of state, will serve until Dec. 15, 2026. A special election for the last two years of Vance's six-year term will be held in November 2026. Standing next to Husted, DeWine called him a trusted partner on key decisions and noted that his choice for the Senate would have to be determined enough to run statewide over the next several years to keep the seat. "I have worked with him, I have seen him, I know his knowledge of Ohio," DeWine said. "I know his heart. I know what he cares about. I know his skills. And all of that tells me that he is the right person for this job." Vance's election as vice president in November opened up one of Ohio's U.S. Senate seats for the third time in as many years, availing DeWine of a long list of people who had sought the seat and lost in 2022 and 2024. That list included former Ohio Republican Chair Jane Timken; Secretary of State Frank LaRose; and state Sen. Matt Dolan. Two-term Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague and Republican attorney and strategist Mehek Cooke, a frequent guest on Fox News Channel, were also in the mix, as were members of the state's congressional delegation. Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur from Cincinnati, scrambled the Senate field in recent days when he visited DeWine to express his interest in the job. By choosing Husted, meanwhile, DeWine may help avert a Republican faceoff for governor in 2026, when Husted and Attorney General Dave Yost were already positioning to run. However, the field stands to remain competitive. Ramaswamy, Sprague and political newcomer Heather Hill, who saw two foster children shot by police in separate episodes, also are considered likely to mix up the race. But Husted was considered the early front-runner for governor, given his fundraising and efforts to put together a campaign organization. Yost, meanwhile, had said he would decline the Senate appointment if DeWine offered it to him. It's possible that the special election for the remainder of Vance's unexpired term in November 2026 provides a comeback opportunity for former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, who was unseated in November by Cleveland businessman Bernie Moreno. During his final Senate speech on Dec. 17, Brown said it would not be the last time Ohioans would hear from him. It was also considered a possibility that Brown would run for governor, but it appears he has gotten behind former Health Director Amy Acton in that contest. Other possible Senate candidates to take on Husted in two years are former U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic Senate nominee who lost to Vance in 2022; and Allison Russo, who leads the Ohio House Democratic caucus. DeWine made it clear ahead of time that he wanted the Republican he chose for the Senate to be well positioned to defeat whoever the Democrats run in 2026 and then to run again full a full term in 2028. He called the ordeal "not for the faint-hearted." Husted has that ability, having successfully run twice for Ohio secretary of state — overseeing elections and business development — and twice as lieutenant governor. In fact, his strength as a statewide candidate was a key factor in DeWine putting him on his ticket in 2018, merging Husted's own governor's campaign with his own.