WASHINGTON, D. C. (TNS) — Columbus-area Republican Jon Husted on Tuesday, Jan. 21 resigned from his post as Ohio lieutenant governor and was sworn in as Ohio’s newest U.S. senator, replacing newly-minted U.S. vice-president JD Vance, who administered the oath of office to his successor.

In order to keep the Senate job, Husted will have to win a 2026 special election to fill the last two years of Vance’s term then seek a full six-year term in 2028.

Husted was sworn in at the same time as Florida’s Ashley Moody, who is leaving her job as the state’s attorney general to fill the Senate seat vacated by Marco Rubio’s confirmation as Donald Trump’s secretary of state.

He was accompanied up the Senate aisle by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno, a Westlake Republican. Most of Ohio’s Republican U.S. House of Representatives members were present in the Senate chamber, and congratulated Husted after he was sworn in.

Husted declined to speak to the media after the ceremony, but DeWine predicted he’ll love the job because of his focus on policy. He said he doesn’t think will have opposition when he faces a primary in two years.

“I’ve run with Jon Husted, and I’ve run against him for a while when we both were running for governor, and he’s tough and he’s a strong candidate,” DeWine said.

Husted, 57, is a conservative whose focus has long been primarily on business and economic issues. A former Ohio House speaker and secretary of state, he ran for governor in 2018 but dropped out after he and DeWine made a deal to become the latter’s running mate.

Before Vance’s Senate vacancy opened up, Husted had planned to run for governor in 2026, when DeWine is term-limited. He was, on paper, a strong contender for the job. Husted has run statewide in Ohio multiple times and has spent time in the Ohio General Assembly. He has a seven-figure bank account for a state elected-office run that he can’t tap for the U.S. Senate race. But a new headwind recently emerged in the 2026 Republican primary for governor with Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy poised to run.

Ramaswamy, a friend of Husted’s, took himself out of the running for the Senate appointment early on, when Trump named him to co-chair of a high-profile government efficiency initiative, but resurfaced later as reportedly being Trump’s favored candidate for the Senate appointment.

“No matter his title, Ohioans know they can depend on Jon Husted to fight for a smaller and more efficient government that genuinely serves its citizens,” Senate Republican Leader John Thune of South Dakota said on the Senate floor. “I’m very pleased to welcome him to the Senate.”

DeWine selected Husted to replace Vance on Friday, after weeks of deliberating that involved multiple visits to Trump’s home in Florida. When he picked Husted, he said he wanted someone with a firm grasp of Ohio’s complexity and diversity, and someone who understands the interaction between federal and state government.

“I wanted a workhorse,” DeWine said of the appointment. “I want someone who I knew would get up in the morning every single day, focus on Ohio, focus on the people here, but also focus on the obligation that that senator had for the whole country.”

Husted was born in Michigan and lived in a foster home as a baby before being adopted and raised in Montpelier, a village in Northwest Ohio. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in communications from the University of Dayton, where he was an All-American defensive back for the school’s football team.

After working for a Montgomery County commissioner and the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, he was elected to the Ohio House in 2000, rising to become House speaker from 2005 until 2009. He and his wife, Tina, have three children.

DeWine said he’s still thinking about who to appoint as Husted’s successor. He said he’d like to do it as soon as he can, but didn’t want to provide a time frame for the appointment.

“I’m starting to talk to different people,” DeWine said.