COLUMBUS — Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has announced who will fill Vice President-elect JD Vance’s senate seat.
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DeWine announced Friday that Lt. Governor Jon Husted will fill Vance’s seat.
In making the decision, DeWine said he was looking for someone who understood the complexity of the state and someone who would be a “workhorse” for Ohio.
“I believe and know that Jon is prepared to be the United States senator from the state of Ohio,” DeWine said.
Husted said it was his honor to accept the appointment.
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“My time here at the Statehouse has been a true joy, but representing Ohio in the U.S. Senate is an amazing opportunity,” Husted said. “It is something that an adopted kid who grew up on County Road J in Montpelier, Ohio, could have never imagined.”
Vance officially resigned from his seat in the U.S. Senate last Friday, News Center 7 previously reported.
“As I prepare to assume my duties as Vice President of the United States, I would like to express that it has been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve the people of Ohio in the Senate over the past two years,” Vance wrote in a letter to DeWine announcing his intentions to resign.
DeWine previously said he would make the appointment once Vance vacated the seat. He has the sole duty of appointing a successor to Vance, who was elected to a six-year term in 2022.
Despite a long list of Republicans in the state that had expressed interest in the seat, speculation most recently zeroed in on Husted, who accompanied DeWine on a recent trip to Mar-a-Lago to speak with President-elect Donald Trump.
Husted, a University of Dayton alumni, is a former Ohio House speaker, state senator, and two-term secretary of state. He had previously been considered a front-runner to run for governor in 2026.
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