The fate of Vice President-elect JD Vance’s senate seat in Ohio – The Cauldron
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United States Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) is set to take on a new title as vice president after his victory alongside President-elect Donald Trump last Tuesday, leaving his congressional seat vacant.
Having been first elected to the Senate in 2022 with no prior experience in public office, Vance has only served two years of his six-year term. The results of last week’s election make him one of the youngest vice presidents at 40, and perhaps one of the most polarizing.
The question of who will represent Ohio in his place is now front and center.
Under Ohio law, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is in charge of appointing Vance’s temporary replacement. It won’t be until November 2026, when a special election is held during the next midterm election cycle, that someone would be elected to serve the remaining two years of his six-year term.
In 2028, when Vance’s senatorial term is set to expire, a traditional election will be held for a full six-year term.
Given that DeWine is guaranteed to choose a Republican, Ohio’s two seats in the Senate will be held by Republicans simultaneously for the first time since 2007, following Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) recent loss to Trump-endorsed Bernie Moreno (R).
Dewine’s choice still remains uncertain.
“It takes someone who really will focus on the state of Ohio, will focus on national issues, someone who will really work hard, someone who wants to get things done,” DeWine shared with reporters last Thursday. “These are qualifications, I think, that are very important. It also has to be someone who could win a primary. It has to be someone who could win a general election, and then two years later, do all that again. So, this is not for the faint-hearted.”
Speculation has produced potential contenders such as Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose and State Sen. Mike Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls). Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, former presidential candidate and Cincinnati resident, said he would “strongly consider” the seat.
DeWine’s appointee will take the oath of office early January alongside the rest of the 119th United States Congress.
Senate control
While this may be a win for Republicans, the margins by which they won back the upper chamber last Tuesday weren’t close.
Republicans have secured the Senate majority 53 to 47 after taking four seats from the Democrats, called by AP News last Wednesday.
With Republicans also set to control the House of Representatives, Trump and Vance will walk into the White House this January with the ultimate partisan trifecta needed to push their agenda in Washington for the next two years until the 2026 midterms.
View the results of the 2024 elections here.
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