Vivek Ramaswamy Passed Over For Ohio Senate Seat Vacated By J.D. Vance In Favor Of Lt. Gov. Jon Husted

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) passed over entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy for the Ohio Senate vacated by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance. DeWine selected Lt. Gov. Jon Husted (R) to fill the seat on Saturday. 

In November, Ramaswamy announced he is working alongside X CEO Elon Musk on Donald Trump‘s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

DeWine met with the entrepreneur last weekend at the Governor’s mansion in Columbus to discuss the Senate vacancy. Trump encouraged Ramaswamy to accept the appointment if the governor offered it.

DeWine told News 5 Cleveland that, in addition to meeting with Ramaswamy, he had “met with a lot of people,” adding that his team has “a lot of good people.”

Vance resigned last week before his swearing-in as vice president on Monday.

“Trump’s decisive victory on Tuesday opens up many possibilities to change the country,” Vance said. “We’re obviously having discussions, and they’re not going to be sorted out in the press.”

Ramaswamy, who once said that the U.S. should build a wall on the northern border shared with Canada, told reporters that he wants “to reflect on the biggest and best possible way that we can use that skill set as an outsider to hopefully transform this country.”

“I obviously care immensely about the state,” he said. “The future of Ohio is important to me as well.”

There has also been speculation that Ramaswamy is interested in running to succeed DeWine as governor next year.

Husted will now have to win a special election in 2026 to serve the remaining two years of the Vice President-elect’s term.

DeWine has been a moderate Republican voice in an increasingly conservative state.

In 2021, DeWine announced that his state was introducing a new program to incentivize residents to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Eligible adults who receive at least one vaccine shot were entered into a lottery with a grand prize of $1 million.

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