Gov. Mike DeWine has selected his own Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to become the next senator from Ohio, passing over entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Two sources, granted anonymity to speak freely about the appointment, confirmed that DeWine will pick Husted.
DeWine is expected to make the announcement at 1p.m.
Husted, a Republican more in DeWine’s institutionalist mold, had long planned to run for governor in 2026 to succeed DeWine. His ascent to the Senate will likely scramble the field in that race.
Ramaswamy learned mid-morning Friday he would not be the pick, according to a person familiar with the discussion and granted anonymity to describe it.
DeWine’s deliberations were upended when Ramaswamy, the billionaire Columbus-area entrepreneur and co-head of the Department of Government Efficiency, made a late appeal for the vacancy. Despite insisting he was interested in running for governor in 2026, the DOGE co-chair was “lobbying like hell” for the Senate post, according to a source familiar with DeWine’s thinking.
“It was bizarre,” said this source.
The governor, a former two-term senator himself, is an outspoken internationalist. And in recent years, he has openly expressed unease about his party’s drift toward the sort of isolationism Ramaswamy often voiced in his short-lived presidential bid.
“He’s a serious guy for very serious times,” said the source of Husted. “And nobody knows the state better.”
The positioned opened officially when Vance resigned from his seat at midnight last Friday, following his ascension to the vice presidency.
Husted, a protege of the more moderate, less populist, old-school GOP DeWine, will serve through the special election in 2026. Before serving as lieutenant governor, Husted was the speaker of the Ohio House and was secretary of state.
Ramaswamy, meanwhile, is expected to focus on attempting to gain some policy wins at DOGE while announcing a gubernatorial run in the coming weeks, two people familiar with his plans say.
Jonathan Martin contributed to this report.
