CNN
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Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine plans to nominate Lt. Gov. Jon Husted to fill the U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, two people with knowledge of the decision tell CNN. Ta.
Husted has emerged as a favorite to win in recent weeks after he and DeWine visited Donald Trump and the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in December. But it wasn’t clear at the time whether Husted was eyeing the Senate or potentially seeking support in an expected gubernatorial race in 2026.
By abandoning his hopes of succeeding the term-limited DeWine and running for the Senate, Mr. Husted cleared the way for Mr. Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy to run for governor. The president-elect’s 11th-hour push for Mr. Ramaswamy to consider the Senate seat never gained traction. Mr. Ramaswamy met with Mr. DeWine over the weekend, but he has not shown any public interest. He currently ranks alongside billionaire Elon Musk at the head of the so-called Department for Government Efficiency.
A person familiar with Mr. Ramaswamy’s thinking said he intends to “earn an early board victory” at DOGE before announcing his candidacy for governor.
In the Senate, DeWine’s decision maintained the status quo, giving Republicans a narrow majority after a successful 2024 campaign. Although similar in temperament, Husted came from a different conservative tradition than Vance, who sometimes overlapped with progressives on economic issues with populist influences. Husted is a fiscal hawk who frequently touted passing “the most conservative state budget in 40 years” during his time as speaker of the state House, and his official biography says that his last two years in the House were spent using public funds. He stated that he ran the Secretary of State’s office without having to do so. post.
Still, it was Husted who delivered Vance’s nomination speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee last summer.
“Whoever accepts this nomination,” Husted said of Vance. News. ”
Mr. Husted will serve in the Senate until 2026, after which a special election will be held to fill the final two years of Mr. Vance’s term. In 2028, Hustead will be eligible to serve a full six-year term.
Most recently, Mr. Husted sponsored a bill in Ohio that would restrict social media use by children under 16 in what many expected in the run-up to another gubernatorial election.
The Social Media Parental Notification Act places the onus on social media organizations to determine whether potential users are under the age of 15. In such cases, parents must provide written consent for their child to participate in the network and receive confirmation of receipt from the Company.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram; Snapchat; TikTok; and YouTube are all subject to the sponsorship of a law passed as a provision of the state budget in 2023.
“We need to act because we’ve been experimenting on children and we know it’s failing,” Husted said at a press conference in Columbus ahead of the passage. said.
Mr. Husted assumed his most recent role in 2019. He was originally a gubernatorial candidate and was one of a crowded field of candidates hoping to succeed two-term Republican Gov. John Kasich. After dropping out, he became DeWine’s lieutenant governor, and Husted was elected lieutenant governor in 2018.
His political career began nearly 20 years ago when he was elected to the state House of Representatives. In 2010, Husted began his first statewide campaign by winning the state Senate District 6 seat, where he remained until his successful bid as Ohio Secretary of State. He was re-elected in 2014.
Husted played college football for the Division III University of Dayton Flyers. The team won the national championship in 1989, his senior year. He is married to Tina Husted. they have three children.
According to his official biography, Husted first lived in a foster home before being adopted. He graduated from Montpelier High School in northwest Ohio and then headed to Dayton.
This article has been updated with additional reporting.
CNN’s René Marsh contributed to this report.
