JD Vance Senate vacancy sets up scramble in Ohio to fill seat

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JD Vance’s election as vice president has opened up one of Ohio’s U.S. Senate seats for the third time in as many years, setting off a scramble for the appointment among the state’s ruling Republicans.

GOP Gov. Mike DeWine is tasked with filling the vacancy, giving the pragmatic center-right politician a hand in setting his party’s course in the state potentially for years to come. His decision will be made in the afterglow of sweeping wins by Republicans in November under the leadership of Donald Trump, but a poor choice could also help Democrats reclaim a place in Ohio’s Senate delegation when the seat comes up for reelection in less than two years.

“Look, being a United States senator is a big deal,” the governor told reporters in the days after the election. “It’s a big deal for the state, and we need to get it right.”

DeWine has a long list to choose from — particularly given the number of GOP candidates who competed unsuccessfully in Senate primaries in 2022 and 2024. Those under consideration who previously lost crowded Republican primaries are former Ohio Republican Chair Jane Timken; two-term Secretary of State Frank LaRose; and state Sen. Matt Dolan, whose family owns baseball’s Cleveland Guardians. Two-term Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague and Republican attorney and strategist Mehek Cooke, a frequent guest on Fox News, are also in the mix.

Meanwhile, ambitions for the seat among Republican members of Ohio’s congressional delegation — which includes U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan, Mike Carey, David Joyce and Warren Davidson — are being tempered by the slim House majority their party scored in November. House vacancies necessarily take months to fill under Ohio’s election protocols, likely a consideration for DeWine as Trump prepares to push early policy priorities through Congress.

Under state law, whoever gets the appointment will serve from the date of Vance’s resignation, which he hasn’t announced, until Dec. 15, 2026. A special election for the last two years of his six-year term would be held in November 2026.

DeWine says he wants his appointee to be focused on both state and national issues and willing to work hard and “get things done.” He also hinted that the person’s politics can’t be too extreme.

“It also has to be someone who can win a primary, it has to be someone who can win a general election, and then two years later do all that again,” he said.

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.