As Vice President-elect, JD Vance will have to relinquish his Ohio Senate seat, and there are already several contenders for his replacement.
Vance and President-elect Donald Trump won a decisive victory in the 2024 election, with Vice President Kamala Harris conceding the race on Wednesday. As Harris' successor, Vance is expected to resign from the Senate, where he has represented the state of Ohio since January 2023.
According to Ohio law, in this situation the state's governor has the power to appoint a replacement, who will serve in the seat until a special election in 2026, which will decide who fulfills the remainder of Vance's term.
This means that the current governor of Ohio, Republican Mike DeWine, will soon have to face a difficult decision: Who will he pick to replace Vance in the Senate?
Vivek Ramaswamy
A close friend of Vance from university and a top Trump supporter, 39-year-old Ramaswamy was born and raised in Ohio. He rose to prominence during the 2024 Republican primary, but dropped out and endorsed Trump.
Ramaswamy was briefly in the running to join Trump on the ticket, before Vance was selected as his running mate. He would be a reliable pro-Trump vote in the Senate, and brings national name recognition to future elections for the seat.
Matt Dolan
Ohio State Senator Matt Dolan has a long track record of public service in the Buckeye State, serving in the state's House of Representatives since 2005 before becoming a state Senator in 2017.
Dolan, 59, was defeated by Vance in the Republican Senate primary in 2022, and again in 2024 for the state's other Senate seat, but he remains one of the state's most experienced lawmakers.
Frank LaRose
Like Dolan, 45-year-old Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has also attempted a run for the Senate, in the 2024 primary for a chance to retake the seat from Democrat Sherrod Brown.
As Secretary of State, LaRose works closely with Governor DeWine, which could be key to the governor's final decision. LaRose was endorsed by Donald Trump during his 2022 run for reelection as Secretary of State.
Jane Timken
Another big name in the Ohio GOP, Jane Timken, 58, served as the party's chair for the state from 2017 to 2021.
Timken resigned from her position to run for U.S. Senate in 2022, losing in the primary that JD Vance won. She ran on an explicitly pro-Trump platform, to the point where she criticized former governor John Kasich, she had previously supported.
Jon Husted
Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted is DeWine's second-in-command and has worked closely with him since 2018. He even dropped out of the 2018 gubernatorial election to join DeWine's ticket as his running mate.
Husted, 57, also served in the Ohio state House and Senate before his election to lieutenant governor, meaning he has legislative experience that would suit the Senate well.
How Will JD Vance's Replacement Be Picked?
JD Vance is expected to resign before he assumes the office of vice president in January, 2025.
That will trigger an appointment process in which Ohio Governor Mike DeWine will select someone, likely a Republican, to serve until a special election. In this case, the special election will occur on November 3, 2026, during the midterms for Trump's incoming administration.
The special election will decide who serves the remainder of JD Vance's original 6-year term. As Vance was elected to the Senate in the 2022 midterms, this means that the next regular election for the seat is in 2028, at the same time as the next presidential election.
Newsweek contacted the office of Mark DeWine for comment on the replacement process.
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about the 2024 election results? Contact LiveNews@newsweek.com.
English (US) ·