DeWine Names Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to Fill JD Vances Senate Seat
Gov.Mike DeWine of Ohio on Friday named Lt.
Gov.Jon Husted to fill the Senate seat being vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance, elevating a veteran Republican politician and ally who came up in politics during the pre-Trump era.“This is a serious, serious time in our history,” said Mr.
DeWine, flanked by a beaming Mr.Husted at a news conference.
“Serious times demand serious people.”In naming Mr.Husted, Mr.
DeWine passed over Vivek Ramaswamy, the former presidential candidate and pharmaceutical entrepreneur who has been leading a government-slashing initiative alongside Elon Musk and who had emerged as another possible choice in recent days.Mr.Ramaswamy, who was named by President-elect Donald J.
Trump to lead the so-called Department of Government Efficiency with Mr.Musk, said in November that he was not interested in being considered for the Senate appointment.
But Mr.DeWine met with Mr.
Ramaswamy last weekend, the governor confirmed.The choice of Mr.Vance’s successor has important implications across Republican politics including for the Trump White House, the United States Senate and the Ohio governorship.
Mr.Vance resigned his seat on Jan.
10, creating a vacancy for Mr.DeWine to fill.Mr.
Trump had gotten involved in the choice, meeting with Mr.DeWine and Mr.
Husted late last year at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida home and resort, according to Ohio news reports.In recent weeks, Mr.
Trump had suggested to Mr.Ramaswamy that he might be a good fit for the Senate seat, if offered to him, according to two people with knowledge of the conversation, which was first reported by The Washington Post.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
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