Here Are the Top Contenders to Replace JD Vance in the Senate

Tongues are wagging in Ohio about who might replace JD Vance as U.S. senator should he become vice president in January 2025, which becomes increasingly likely with every passing day. 

The Ohio Revised Code gives the governor, in this case Mike "Wear the Mask, Peasant" DeWine, power to appoint a replacement until a special election is held in November 2026. The winner would serve out Vance's term, which ends in 2028.

I told my colleague Stephen Kruiser that Ohio is "very cat-fighty." There are political rivalries going back decades, loyalty tests, and enough backstabbing to rival the mob (without the murders... don't hold me to that). They don't call it the Ohio Mafia for nothing. Ohio Capitol Journal: 

In the wretched hustle of public corruption, modern Ohio Republican state politicians make the notorious “Ohio Gang” of the Teapot Dome scandal look like rank amateurs.

Consider the latest: Three-and-a-half years after news of the largest bribery scandal in Ohio history broke, citizens are seeing fresh indictments with damning new details about the breadth and depth of the depravity, including how the entire operation reached into the orbit and actions of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted.

The latest indictments concern a $1.3 billion dollar bailout that Akron-based FirstEnergy has already admitted to the federal government that it paid more than $60 million in bribes to purchase. Former Republican Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former state GOP Chairman Matt Borges are serving federal prison sentences for their roles. Two other lobbyists cooperated and are awaiting sentencing, while a third died by suicide wearing a “DeWine for governor” t-shirt.  [Emphasis added]

Now, that's coming from a left-leaning news site, but the facts don't lie, and many conservatives are fed up with the corrupt DeWine regime. Nevertheless, DeWine will likely choose the next U.S. senator for Ohio. 

Here are the top contenders: 

• State Sen. Matt Dolan, who has been a close ally of DeWine for years. Dolan, whose family owns the Cleveland Indians Guardians, ran for Senate in the 2024 primary but came in second to Bernie Moreno. DeWine endorsed Dolan, who ran largely on a NeverTrump platform. He still had more than $4 million in his campaign war chest as of December 2023. (Prediction: very likely)
• If Bernie Moreno, a pro-Trump political neophyte, loses the 2024 Senate race to incumbent Sherrod Brown—a Democrat unicorn in an overwhelmingly Red state whom no Republican has been able to beat—DeWine could hand him the seat as a consolation prize. (Prediction: not likely, too Trumpy for DeWine.)
• Current Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who came in third in the Senate primary. He's pro-Trump and has worked his way up through the ranks—first as a state senator and then as SoS (before that, he served as an Army Green Beret and pulled several tours of duty. (Prediction: quite possible.)
• Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted is also in the mix. DeWine and Husted were never great allies or even friends, but Husted helped consolidate the GOP vote during the 2019 gubernatorial race. He's also served in the Ohio House and Senate and as secretary of state. He's a true party man. He may be angling to run for governor next, but his ties to DeWine and the bribery scandal may take him out of contention. (Prediction: not likely unless Husted has something on DeWine.)
• Former Congressman Jim Renacci. He got the short end of the stick when then-President Trump asked Renacci, who was at the time running for Senate, to run for governor instead in 2022, hoping to take out DeWine. It was already late in the election season when he made the switch, and then a guy no one had ever heard of, "Cowboy Joe" Blystone, who turned out to be a kook, became an internet sensation and ended up taking the votes that could have put Renacci over the top. Nevertheless, Renacci has never wavered in his support for Trump. Prior to the governor's race, Renacci ran for Senate against Brown and got the closest anyone has ever gotten to ousting the radical left-wing Democrat. (Bonus: He was on the House Ways and Means Committee, so he knows where the bodies are buried.) He'd be a good choice, but DeWine is probably still sore about being forced to run against him as an incumbent. (Prediction: it's possible the two could bury the hatchet for the good of the state, based on Renacci's past success, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The vengeance runs deep.) 

Dark horses: 

• Mike Gibbons is a wealthy businessman who came in fourth in a field of seven candidates in the 2022 Senate primary, which Vance won handily. Let's just say he's not the most exciting candidate I've ever seen. (Prediction: nah.) 
• Former Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman Jane Timken (of the Timken Steel family). She came in fifth in that seven-way primary and only managed to eke out 62,000 votes out of the more than a million cast. Unfortunately for her, the stench of the ORP's corruption still looms large in the state, which hasn't helped her political career. That said, DeWine could very well play the diversity card and appoint her. (Prediction: 50/50 chance based on her anatomy.) 
• Attorney General Dave Yost, who served as state auditor before becoming AG. He's a cool guy who plays the bass in a band and whose campaign slogan was once "Peace, Love, and Skinny Government." He might be at the top of my list for that reason alone, but he doesn't seem to have the fire in the belly to campaign hard to retain the seat. (Prediction: he's more likely to run for governor.) 
• [Updated] Vivek Ramaswamy is coming off a year-long media tour, running first for president and then vice president. (Prediction: Not a snowball's chance that DeWine picks him.)

Another factor that overlays the Senate appointment is a successor for DeWine, who will be term-limited out in 2027. Ohio has been a move-up-the-ladder-and-wait-your-turn state for as long as I can remember, so both Yost and LaRose would be considered to have served their time in state government. That said, nothing has been the same since Trump came down the golden escalator in 2016, so the next race for governor could be a complete free-for-all with candidates we've never heard of jumping into the race.

All of this speculation is, of course, contingent on Trump/Vance winning in November. No decision on a replacement will be announced—though it may have already been made—until that is settled. In the meantime, there will be lots of visits to the governor's mansion by candidates wishing to plead their cases between now and then.