Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted will move from the Buckeye State to D.C., earning the coveted nomination to replace Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in the U.S. Senate.
Gov. Mike DeWine, who has been interviewing candidates for months, handed the job over to his deputy.
“I wanted someone who knew Ohio,” DeWine said. “I needed someone who had a good understanding of the complexities of Ohio.”
He continued: “Serious times call for serious people.”
Husted was raised in northwest Ohio but represented the Dayton area in the Ohio Statehouse and has been in politics for more than two decades. He served in both the Ohio Senate and House of Representatives and later became Speaker. Then he served as Secretary of State for two terms. After first running for governor, he decided to join DeWine as a team in the 2018 race.
“We have been working to make Ohio great again, and I look forward to working with President Trump and J.D. Vance to make America great again,” Husted said.
We were will be the first to report that the governor and Husted visited Mar-a-Lago to meet with President-elect Donald Trump and Vance in behind schedule 2024.
Before the nomination, the voivode provided a list of requirements for the position.
“It has to be someone who really wants and does the job and who we believe has the skills to do it,” DeWine said, adding that the Senate appointee would also be able to hold the job for a long time.
The governor has previously said he needs someone who will not only win the primary and general elections in 2026, but also hold the seat in 2028.
Possible visit to LG
We talked to a dozen strategists about who might be nominated as lieutenant governor. People on this list have been mentioned at least five times.
Strategists believe that LG’s leaders include, among others: Ohio RNC committee member Jane Timken, former state. Senator Matt Dolan, former State Representative Jay Edwards, Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik and State Senator Michele Reynolds.
Timken, Dolan and Edwards were up for the Senate nomination. None of them provided public comment on LG’s question.
Mihalik and Reynolds actually talked.
“I love my job!” – said Michalik. “I will not reveal the content of private conversations.”
Mihalik is a close ally of the voivode and was already on the list of possible nominations in December.
But it seemed like she didn’t want that.
“My focus is on state government, and that’s where I intend to remain involved,” Mihalik said last month.
She was previously mayor of Findlay before DeWine chose her to lead the department. Under her leadership, Intel, Honda, GM and Ford have all decided to invest in the state.
Reynolds, a Republican from a distant suburb of Columbus, apparently was unaware of her popularity with LG.
“This is the first time I’ve heard of any possible talks about me replacing LG Jon Husted,” Reynolds previously said when asked. “I trust the governor will do the right thing for Ohio and he has my full support with whomever he decides to choose.”
This article was originally published on News5Cleveland.com and are published in the Ohio Capital Journal under a content sharing agreement. Unlike other OCJ articles, it is not available for free republication on other news outlets because it is owned by WEWS in Cleveland.
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