Gov. Mike DeWine has a big decision to make: Who will he select to replace U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance who will resign to be sworn in as vice president of the United States?

Vance’s political career has skyrocketed in a short time. After getting the coveted endorsement from Donald Trump before the May 2022 Republican primary for the Senate seat, Vance had never held political office.

Vance won the crowded Republican primary and then defeated Democrat Tim Ryan in the November 2022 election for the post held for 12 years by Republican Rob Portman.

About 18 months into his Senate term, Trump announced July 15 that Vance would be his vice presidential running mate. With Trump winning last week’s presidential election over Democrat Kamala Harris, he and Vance will be sworn in Jan. 20.

Vance is expected to resign from the Senate – though as vice president he will be Senate president – right before he takes the oath of office.

DeWine, a fellow Republican, has been lobbied since Trump’s announcement of Vance as his running mate by those interested in succeeding him in the Senate.

DeWine has made important appointments before though this is only the second statewide one for him, and arguably the biggest.

In December 2022, DeWine appointed Joseph Deters to an open seat on the Ohio Supreme Court. Deters had never served as a judge before the appointment. A close friend of DeWine, Deters spent about 25 years as Hamilton County prosecutor and was twice elected as state treasurer – though he resigned before his second term expired.

In electing Vance in 2022 and Republican Bernie Moreno last week, state voters showed they aren’t interested in career politicians representing them.

Whoever DeWine, who spent 12 years in the Senate, appoints will have to run in 2026 for the remaining two years on Vance’s term and then seek a full six-year term in 2028.

While there are several viable Republicans whose names are being considered, some are already out of the running.

Attorney General Dave Yost, who plans to run in 2026 for governor, said he would not accept an appointment to the Senate.

Vivek Ramaswamy, a venture capitalist who briefly ran for the Republican nomination for president, was considered a top candidate for the appointment.

But Trump announced Tuesday that he was appointing Ramaswamy and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, to oversee the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency to advise Trump’s administration on what the president-elect said are ways to “drive large scale structural reform and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before.”

The department’s work is scheduled to conclude no later than July 4, 2026.

Ramaswamy said: “Yes, this means I’m withdrawing myself from consideration for the pending Senate appointment in Ohio.”

The four names that come up among Republicans looking to succeed Vance are: Jane Timken, a former Ohio Republican Party chairwoman who badly lost the 2022 Republican primary for U.S. Senate; U.S. Rep. Mike Carey of Columbus, who was first elected to Congress in a 2021 special election and previously served as a coal lobbyist; Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, who came in last in the March Republican primary for the Senate seat; and state Sen. Matt Dolan, who lost Republican Senate primaries in 2022 and 2024.

Politico reported last week that LaRose is interested in becoming director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Despite not getting Trump’s endorsement in the Senate primary, he’s remained a loyalist to the president-elect.

Trump went with Vance over Timken in the 2022 Senate primary, but Trump helped get her elected as state party chairwoman in 2017. The Ohio Republican Party selected her in April to represent the state on the Republican National Committee.

Carey received Trump’s endorsement in the 2021 special election for the 15th Congressional District race.

Dolan had DeWine’s endorsement and finished second in the March primary, losing to Moreno, who was endorsed by Trump and Vance. Dolan finished third in the 2022 Republican Senate primary.

Dolan, the only potential candidate to declare his interest for the job, faces an uphill climb. While he’s close with DeWine, Dolan criticized Trump for how he handled his 2020 defeat — something the president-elect hasn’t forgotten or forgiven.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that some Democrats hope DeWine will select Sherrod Brown, the 18-year incumbent who lost last week to Moreno because of his experience. Like fetch, that’s not going to happen.

dskolnick@tribtoday.com