Husted will serve until at least 2026 when he will have to run for re-election.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Governor Mike DeWine has tapped his Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to fill J.D. Vance’s seat in the United States Senate.
“I really look forward to working with President Trump and Vice President Vance and the Republican majority who have an America first agenda to fight inflation, fight illegal immigration and advance conservative values and that is what I will do and that is what the people of Ohio need,” Husted said at the announcement on Friday.
The choice was not a surprise, according to David Niven, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati. However, it does have implications for Ohio’s governor race in which Husted was expected to be a candidate.
Husted had dropped out of the race to run alongside DeWine in 2018.
“There was a grand political bargain to set Husted up to become Governor after Mike DeWine served and that part got complicated because the race for governor in 2026 looks like it is gonna be crowded. It looks like it could be a nasty Republican primary and I think the decision today is part a reward for Jon Husted and his loyalty and part old-fashioned political traffic cop, you have too many people heading for that very same race and Mike DeWine made a change and took one of them out of the race,” Niven said.
He expects Vivek Ramaswamy and Attorney General Dave Yost will now vie for the Republican nomination.
“Husted is one of the last sort of traditional Republicans, at least that is where he got his career started and he would be facing some people who are more vocally oriented towards Trump,” Niven said.
Niven said Husted at one point would have been considered a “more moderate Republican,” but in recent years he has aligned with the modern Republican party, and he would expect that to continue when he gets to Washington D.C.
“The challenge for him isn’t so much doing the thing Trump Republicans do, the challenge is going to be getting noticed for it because he hasn’t had much experience dominating the conversation. He hasn’t had much experience in the spotlight so I think that is a difficulty,” Niven said.
Niven expects Husted will try to find ways to stand out by standing up for Ohio.
“Whatever that might be, in an economic situation, disaster situation, in any moment he can identify himself with whatever the struggle of Ohio at that time is,” Niven said.
Husted will serve until at least 2026 when he will have to run for re-election.
“Outside of the office he needs to set up a campaign, a normal senate campaign works on a six-year cycle you have six years to raise the money six years to get ready he has got to do all that almost immediately,” Niven said.
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