COLUMBUS, Ohio — The race is on to replace Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in the Senate, but top GOP strategists tell The Post only two real candidates remain: Jane Timken and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Timken, a Harvard-educated attorney and Ohio Republican Party chair, is a slight favorite in the eyes of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, say sources close to his decision.
The deciding factor will be President-elect Donald Trump. If he decides to pressure DeWine and ask him to appoint a more Make America Great Again candidate, Ramaswamy will win the seat, sources say. But if the decision remains in DeWine’s famously moderate hands, experts feel Timken has it sewn up.
“She’s a good compromise between MAGA and DeWine in my opinion,” a Republican insider working closely on Ohio’s senatorial transitions told The Post.
The Buckeye GOP’s true fear is Democrat Sherrod Brown returning to challenge the appointee in the special election required to full Vance’s seat until it’s up for grabs in 2028.
A pick can’t simply be a good fit to run a conservative agenda on the Hill — he or she must also have enough appeal to potentially fend off Brown in a statewide election without Trump at the top of the ticket.
“It’s going to be Vivek,” one GOP insider told The Post at Ohio’s Miami University. “DeWine isn’t going to like it, but Trump is the one who’s gonna make the call. And DeWine will take that call.”
DeWine is not a “MAGA guy,” and Ramaswamy is, but ultimately the once and future prez has the final say, insists this source.
DeWine may be an exiting governor in 2026 with no more elections to run, but that doesn’t mean Trump and the new GOP can’t tug at his heart-(or purse-)strings.
Unless he wants to spend the next two years (or more) watching every candidate he supports primaried, every budget item he wants cut and every veto overturned by the Trump loyalists controlling Ohio’s legislature, he has to play ball with the commander in chief.
But the governor may still have a little time on the clock to cut a deal for Timken with Trump’s GOP powerbrokers.
“I’m much too superstitious to think about that now,” Vance himself told reporters when asked about his replacement on Election Day.
“That sounds like a problem for January 21,” Vance’s newly elected colleague in the Senate, Bernie Moreno, said at an event featuring Ramaswamy last month. “That’s not for today.”
Both men declined to comment on this story, as did Ramaswamy himself.
The 39-year-old CEO, born and raised in Cincinnati, founded a successful technology company and published a widely read book about woke businesses before launching an ultimately unsuccessful bid for president this cycle. He fits the “GOP 2.0” blueprint Trump and the new Republicans are after: He appeals to younger voters, he’s financially focused in terms of policy, and he’s a successful business leader who has spent little-to-no time in the swamps of DC — just like Vance and Moreno.
“What’s happened in America, and what we’re going to fix, is the greatest demasculization in US history,” Ramaswamy said at a college campaign event for Moreno last month. “It starts with our economy. The first generation who will pay into systems like social security and not get paid out is actually sitting in front of me today.”
Joining Ramaswamy and Timken further down on the list of hopefuls is Ohio’s traditional boys’ club of familiar names.
- Lt. Governor Jon Husted: Husted is an experienced politician with the kind of name recognition that would help the GOP win a special election. But most experts believe Husted has his heart set on the governor’s chair in 2026 over a trip to Capitol Hill.
- Secretary of State Frank LaRose: A military man with solid MAGA roots, LaRose has been the “heavy” for Republicans in Ohio when it comes to difficult issues like election integrity. But some think he’s too conservative to win the special election, especially if the defeated Brown rises from the ashes.
- Attorney General David Yost: The Ohio AG is a well-respected powerhouse in the state, but he lacks popularity among younger voters and women.
Once Vance resigns his Senate seat to begin his transition into the vice presidency, DeWine is required by law to name a successor “without delay.” This successor will then need to win a special election if he or she wants to keep the shiny new position for the full term.
If selected, Ramaswamy or Timken would join Moreno in Washington, where the leadership has promised to immediately begin work on introducing tax cuts, helping to deport illegal immigrants and “firing” Sen. Chuck Schumer as majority leader.
DeWine’s decision could come any day now, but in the wake of Trump’s landslide victory, the feeling around Columbus has become clear: No matter whose name is on the governor’s desk, it’s Donald Trump who runs this town.
