TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – The countdown is on for who Ohio Governor Mike DeWine will pick to replace Vice-President Elect J.D. Vance.
DeWine has been tight-lipped about who he would choose so far, but said he has certain qualifications for the next senator for Ohio.
There is less than a week to go until the inauguration.
“Whoever it is has to be sworn in or should be sworn in before J.D. Vance is sworn in as Vice President on Jan. 20,” Jim Provance, the Blade Columbus Bureau Chief, said.
Governor Mike DeWine is preparing to appoint someone to the J.D. Vance’s vacant Senate seat, a seat he gave up after winning the 2024 presidential election.
As for that seat Provance said. “He has said that number one, he wants somebody who can legislate and have Ohio in mind for any progress that would be made, he’s also said that he wants somebody who can raise money you have to remember that the Moreno, Sherrod Brown race was that set records.”
The governor is also expressing the desire to have a candidate that can, “win.”
“Not only a primary but a general election,” Provance said. “And this person will serve two years, then have to run again in 2026, to serve the last two years of J.D. Vance’s term and then presumably run in 2028 for a six-year term of their own.”
Lt. Governor Jon Husted seems to be in the driver’s seat for the nomination.
“The governor and Jon Husted his Lt. Governor went down to Mar-a-Lago a couple of weeks ago to meet with the president and we know that the senate race was on their radar,” he said.
Other notable names include:
- Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague
- Former State Senator Matt Dolan
- Secretary of State Frank Larose
- Columbus-area Congressman Mike Carey
- Former Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken
However, the question of who, remains until a nomination is confirmed.
“There’s always a chance for a surprise, there could be a name that none of us have heard of, but it’s gotta be somebody who can win,” Provance said.
Ohioans will get to have their voice heard on this decision at the ballot box in 2026 and again in 2028.
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