Lt. Gov. Jon Husted will be Ohio's next U.S. Senator. Gov. Mike DeWine announced his appointee to replace JD Vance, who resigned Jan. 10 in advance of his inauguration as vice president on Monday.
The appointment was more than two months in the making, with a number of Republican leaders and officeholders thought to be on the list of possible candidates, including former Ohio GOP chair Jane Timken and billionaire tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
"I interviewed a large number of people. We heard from 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 of Ohio,” DeWine said as he introduced Husted, who stood to his left with his family beside him.
“Every major decision I have made the last six years as governor of the state of Ohio, Jon Husted has played a part in that decision,” DeWine said. “It should not be a shock that Jon and I might disagree on something. But even in the cases where he saw things differently, my decision was informed, was helped by his input.”
Both of Ohio’s senators are freshmen. Husted joins Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who was sworn in earlier this month following his win over three-term Democratic incumbent Sherrod Brown.
Husted was the most experienced politician in the potential pool, and had been raising money to run for governor in 2026, with DeWine's backing. He was considered a likely candidate for the Senate seat early on, and DeWine confirmed that he and Husted had visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida earlier this month. Ramaswamy showed interest in the seat in the last few weeks, meeting with DeWine about the job last weekend. Ramaswamy had posted on X in November he was taking himself out of contention to head President-elect Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk.
Husted was adopted into a northwest Ohio family and went to the University of Dayton, where he was a football standout. He won a seat in the Ohio House in 2000 and has been in elective office since. He’s served as House speaker, a state senator and secretary of state. He briefly challenged DeWine for governor, but the two joined up in late 2017. As lieutenant governor, he’s headed up the state’s efforts on workforce development and technology. Husted was a supporter of Trump in 2016, though as secretary of state, he called Trump’s claims that the election system was rigged irresponsible.
Husted would have to run for the seat again in a special election next year. That winner will have to run again in 2028 to serve in that seat for the full six-year term.
Husted’s appointment to the U.S. Senate opens up the race for governor in 2026. Husted had filed to run and raised twice as much as his likely GOP primary opponent, Attorney General Dave Yost. But Ramaswamy also said to be interested in running for governor.
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