Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has commented on his thinking behind nominating a novel U.S. senator to represent the Buckeye State in Washington if Republican Party candidate former President Donald Trump and Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance win the November 2024 election.
Vance, who officially accepted Trump’s nomination for vice president in the 2024 presidential election during the Republican National Convention last week, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022.
Questions have since arisen about who DeWine might choose to serve as Ohio senator if Trump is elected and Vance takes over as vice president.
When asked about the “qualities” of a potential candidate he would consider for the U.S. Senate, DeWine said he wanted someone who intended to stay in the position “for some time.”
“I will be looking for someone who wants to do their job every day and is focused on doing it — it’s a tough job, it’s not an easy job,” DeWine said in a statement to News 5 Cleveland“We also need to have someone who can stay there for a while.”
“I don’t have a short list and I don’t even have a long list. There are people who have expressed interest and there are other people who have expressed interest in who I appoint,” DeWine added.
Despite the governor’s denials that he does not have an official list of candidates he could possibly appoint to the U.S. Senate, News 5 Cleveland reported that it had interviewed more than a dozen Ohio politicians who said state Sen. Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) would be DeWine’s “most obvious choice.”
Dolan ran for U.S. Senate earlier this year but lost in the Republican Senate primary in March to businessman Bernie Moreno, who will face incumbent U.S. Senator from Ohio Sherrod Brown on November 5.
DeWine endorsed Dolan in the primary, saying at the time, “Matt’s service, experience and integrity will make him the most effective voice for Ohio’s interests on the national stage.”
When he was running for the U.S. Senate, Dolan was often labeled an “anti-Trump” and “anti-Trump Republican.”
In addition to Dolan (pictured above), other candidates for the potential open U.S. Senate seat include Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, businessman and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, RNC member Jane Timken and others.
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at Ohio Star AND Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo by “Matt Dolan” Matt Dolan, translation:
