A breach among Ohio Republicans, who are split between President-elect Donald Trump and establishment-friendly Governor Mike DeWine, is being exacerbated by the Senate hunt for Vice President-elect JD Vance’s successor.
For the last two years of the term Vance won in 2022, DeWine, who supported a candidate backed by Trump this year in the fight for Ohio’s second Senate seat, will designate a candidate to replace Vance’s seat at least until a special election in 2026. He is already being heavily lobbied by competitors.
DeWine spokesperson Dan Tierney told NBC News that his phone has been ringing nonstop.
According to DeWine, he would rather pick a candidate who can win a GOP primary within two years. Additionally, the individual he chooses will probably have to pass a rapid litany of loyalty tests from Trump, Vance, and the voters who helped them win a landslide victory in Ohio: difficult confirmation battles for a number of Trump’s anticipated Cabinet selections.
Trump wants Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News anchor who has stated that women shouldn’t serve in combat and who has been accused of sexual assault but never charged, to be his defense secretary. Additionally, Trump plans to appoint former Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard, who has been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda, as head of national intelligence and anti-vaccination activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health and human services secretary. Additionally, Trump had intended to choose former Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida as attorney general. The Justice Department had looked into the issue, but no charges were brought against him, in which there were claims of sex trafficking.On Thursday afternoon, Gaetz withdrawn from consideration.
According to two people familiar with the conversations, Vance has conferred with DeWine over the Senate job. Additionally, he posted on social media that Trump’s victory guarantees him a cabinet that supports the policies he was elected to carry out, and he accompanied Gaetz and Hegseth to their discussions with other senators this week.
Meanwhile, those close to Vance and Trump are keeping a careful eye on how Vance’s possible successors respond to inquiries on Trump’s selections.
A high-ranking Trump world operative, who was given anonymity to discuss internal thoughts, stated, “We’re not expecting someone to be appointed who is as ideologically connected to President Trump’s agenda as JD was, but there is an expectation that whoever gets it is broadly supportive of his policies, and publicly supporting his Cabinet nominees should be a given for anyone who wants the job.”
Some of the candidates to succeed Vance are being cautious about their remarks, if they make any, on Trump’s troubled picks. When asked if they support Gaetz, Gabbard, Hegseth, and Kennedy, just four of the nine Republicans running for the position or being considered for it answered. (Every Senate candidate who answered questions did so prior to Gaetz withdrawing from the attorney general race.)
State Treasurer Robert Sprague, who refrained from explicitly endorsing Trump, stated in a statement released by a spokesperson that “I support President-elect Trump because he deserves to have the people he wants in his Cabinet and his nominations are fully in line with his promise to shake up Washington.” The U.S. Senate will examine each of his nominations in-depth during the confirmation process. A Senate confirmation, in my opinion, guarantees a cabinet deserving of the public’s confidence in carrying out its constitutional confirmation role.
According to his spokesperson, Dan Lusheck, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, another possible appointee, is enthusiastic about what they can achieve and is highly supportive of the team that [Trump and Vance] have together.
When pressed further, Lusheck stated that LaRose would back the nominations of Kennedy, Gaetz, Gabbard, and Hegseth.
It might be more difficult to pitch Rep. Mike Carey, who is a top prospect because to his connections with DeWine and Trump. In an interview with Spectrum News last week, Carey stated that he was taken aback by Trump’s selection of Gaetz to head the Justice Department and that he did not think Gaetz would be confirmed.
Carey said to Spectrum, “I just don’t see that happening.” (A request for comment on this piece was not answered by him.)
Two less well-known candidates provided enthusiastic and unwavering recommendations.
In a text message, state representative Jay Edwards stated, “I would proudly support ALL of President Trump’s nominees.” Any Republican who would hesitate on this issue is misinterpreting the November 5 mandate that the voters provided.
Mehek Cooke, an attorney who worked on the campaign against a successful constitutional amendment to codify abortion rights in Ohio during the administration of former Governor John Kasich, promised to fully support [Trump’s] bold Cabinet selections, chosen to serve the people rather than political agendas.
Cooke went on to say that anyone who blocks this goal, whether Republican or Democrat, has no place in Washington.
Jane Timken, a former state party chair and member of the Republican National Committee who is considered a front-runner by many GOP operatives in the state, was one of the people who chose not to answer questions regarding Trump’s selections. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who has not ruled out accepting the Senate position but has been planning to run for governor when DeWine’s term ends in 2026, declined to comment.
Vance has not stated when he plans to leave the Senate, but DeWine is ready to move swiftly with an appointment. In order to guarantee that Vance’s successor would have more seniority than the freshmen senators elected in November, Tierney, the governor’s spokesperson, stated that DeWine would prefer to have the pick seated before January 3, the start of the next term.
GOP insiders in Ohio have long conjectured that DeWine may use the appointment to help clear the primary field for Husted’s gubernatorial candidacy, possibly by selecting state attorney general Dave Yost or Sprague, who has expressed interest in the position.
However, according to a source close to Yost, who produced a video this week hinting at his impending gubernatorial campaign, he does not want the position. Vivek Ramaswamy, another possible Husted opponent in 2026, withdrew from the Senate race when Trump appointed him to head a federal efficiency initiative alongside entrepreneur Elon Musk.
According to Tierney, DeWine, a former senator, is giving top priority to a number of attributes in his hunt for Vance’s replacement. Instead of someone who is more interested in performance politics, he wants someone who takes policy and legislation seriously. Additionally, he favors a long-term candidate, thus he has no intention of appointing a caretaker who would consent to not run for the office in the 2026 special election.
Tierney highlighted the governor’s desire for his choice to win the GOP primary that year when asked if DeWine’s thoughts included Trump’s Cabinet choices.
“The governor wants voters to support his choice in a Republican primary, and he wants voters to support his choice in a general election and then again in two years,” Tierney stated.
That calculation might work against a number of the candidates, such as state Sen. Matt Dolan, who lost both of those primaries; LaRose, who came in last in this year’s Senate race; and Timken, who placed a far fifth behind Vance and others in a 2022 Senate contest.
In this year’s election, DeWine favored Dolan, which placed the governor at odds with Trump, who supported businessman Bernie Moreno. After comfortably defeating Dolan and LaRose, Moreno defeated Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Dolan is requesting the position; his advisors did not reply to inquiries for comment. However, even after DeWine’s endorsement, Republicans close to DeWine remain dubious that the governor would choose someone who voters had already rejected in a prior contest.
In a statement last week, Moreno specifically mentioned Gaetz, Gabbard, Hegseth, and Kennedy, promising to back Trump’s Cabinet selections.
President Trump stated that Senate Republicans must swiftly confirm his nominations because the American people gave him a mandate. In order to start putting the America-First agenda into action as quickly as possible, our Republican majority needs to come together and form a strong cabinet.
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