By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-28 13:36:20 | Updated at 2024-12-29 03:45:30
14 hours ago
Ohioans are watching closely as the bid to take Sen. J.D. Vance's seat in the U.S. Senate is on.
Vice President-elect Vance has not yet resigned from his position representing Ohio in the Senate.
But once he does, Ohio's Republican Gov. Mike DeWine will be tasked with appointing someone to fill the vacated seat.
Whoever he decides will fill the seat will hold that office until the next regular state election, at which point a special election will be held. The person elected will finish out Vance's term, which ends in 2028.
It appears that several top contenders have emerged, as well as a long shot candidate vying for the coveted spot in the upper chamber.
Vance will need to step down from the Senate before taking his oath of office as Vice President on January 20, 2025.
It is unclear whether he has weighed in on who he wants to take over the rest of his six-year congressional term.
But Ohio insiders, including sources familiar with the governor's thinking, discussed with DailyMail.com who is in consideration to fill Vance's seat in the 119th Congress.
Vice President-elect J.D. Vance will resign his position in the U.S. Senate before taking his oath of office
Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine will be tasked with appointing Vance's replacement
Congressman Mike Carey
The 53-year-old lawmaker has represented Ohio's 15th congressional district since 2021.
He won a special election after he was endorsed by former President Donald Trump in a crowded Republican primary.
Many called the race 'a test of Trump's influence over Republican politics' less than a year after losing his reelection bid.
Since he has had the backing of Trump for years, it's likely he could emerge as the frontrunner for taking Vance's place in the Senate to continue the MAGA agenda.
Carey served in the Army National Guard from 1989 to 1999 and was chairman of the board of the Ohio Coal Association. He stepped down from that before his successful congressional run.
The congressman lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife Meghan. They have two sons.
Carey also has a third son from a previous relationship and a grandson through that child.
Rep. Mike Carey is possibly at the top of the list and was endorsed for his current position by Donald Trump
Former Ohio GOP Chair Jane Timken is also in the top three to take Vance's place in the Senate
Former Ohio GOP Chair Jane Timken
It's likely that Timken, 58, could make it to the Senate after failing her 2022 bid to join the Ohio delegation in the upper chamber of Congress.
Sources say that she is among the top three contenders DeWine is considering for the role.
Timken is an attorney and she served as chair of the Ohio Republican Party from 2017 to 2021.
She was among the Republicans in the 2022 primary race for the U.S. Senate, which ultimately went to Vance and led him to beating former Democratic Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan in the November midterms that year.
Timken got fifth place out of seven in the crowded primary race. She earned 5.9 percent, which amounted to about 62,779 votes.
She lives in Stark County, Ohio with her husband Ward J. 'Tim' Timken Jr. and she has two children.
Her husband served as U.S. Ambassador to Germany under President George W. Bush.
Ohio State Rep. Jay Edwards
While less known than the other two contenders, Ohio sources claim that State Rep. Edwards is among the top candidates that DeWine is considering.
Edwards has represented the 94th Ohio House District since 2017.
Currently serving his fourth term, Edwards will be term-limited at the end of this cycle and ineligible to run for a fifth.
Edwards was born and raised in Nelsonville, Ohio. He attended Ohio University on a football scholarship and studied mathematics.
He is also a licensed realtor and recently started working in medical sales related to drug treatment.
DeWine is also considering elevating Ohio State Rep. Jay Edwards to Congress
While Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted is in consideration, insiders claim it would be 'off script' if DeWine selected him to take Vance's seat in the Senate
Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted
While still a legitimate contender, insiders say that if DeWine went with his lieutenant it would be a bit 'off script.'
Despite this, Gov. DeWine traveled to Trump's Mar-a-Lago home with Husted, though the specifics of any conversation they had with the president-elect is unclear.
Some believe Husted is now the top contender.
Lt. Gov. Husted, 57, stepped out of the gubernatorial primary race in 2018 to instead join DeWine as his running mate and has served as his No. 2 since then.
Husted represented Ohio's 6th District in the state's Senate from 2009 to 2011.
And before that he was a member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 2001 until 2009. He served as the Ohio Speaker of the House.
Then he was elected in 2010 as Ohio's Secretary of State and was reelected in 2014.
Husted married his wife Tina Zwayer in 2006 and they have three children. They live in the Columbus, Ohio, area.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose
One source claimed that while LaRose 'wants it' he 'likely won't get it.'
They described that LaRose has been lobbying himself for the role, but that DeWine and others don't seem too interested in him taking the position.
LaRose, 45, is currently a member of the Army Reserves. He served in the Army from 1998 to 2007 and then joined the Reserves in 2021.
In 2010, La Rose was elected to the Ohio State Senate and in 2011 began serving in the left-leaning district that he won with 56.5 percent to his Democratic challenger's 43.5 percent.
He won reelection in 2014.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose is reportedly lobbying DeWine to appoint him to the role, but Ohio sources close with the governor say he isn't in serious consideration
In 2017, LaRose announced he would be running for Secretary of State and after serving his first term ran for reelection in 2021.
Trump announced in the campaign for the 2022 midterms his endorsement of LaRose during a rally in Delaware, Ohio in April 2021.
In July 2023, La Rose announced his bid for U.S. Senate to challenge Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Sen.-elect Bernie Moreno ended up winning the primary race and went on to defeat Brown and help Republicans retake control of the upper chamber of Congress.
LaRose endorsed Trump in his 2024 reelection bid in July. He also fired his press secretary Rob Nichols because of his social media posts that are critical of Trump.
