Voters will head to the polls to decide who will fill Vice President JD Vance’s former seat in the U.S. Senate. 

When Vice President JD Vance left his seat in the Senate after being elected with President Trump, Republican Senator Jon Husted was appointed by Governor Mike DeWine to fill the position. 

Husted is now seeking to remain in office in the upcoming November election, which will decide who will serve the remaining two years of Vance’s term through 2028. 

Husted has been active in Ohio politics for over 25 years. He formerly served in the Ohio House of Representatives and served two terms as the state House Speaker. 

In 2008, Husted was elected to the Ohio Senate and became Secretary of State in 2010. 

In 2018, Husted was elected as Ohio’s lieutenant governor alongside DeWine. He was reelected in 2022. 

“I have worked with him, I have seen him, I know his knowledge of Ohio. I know his heart, I know what he cares about, I know his skills, and all of that tells me that he is the right person for the job,” said DeWine upon appointing Husted to the U.S. Senate after Vance’s election with Trump in 2024. 

In April, the Senate Leadership Fund political action committee announced plans to invest in key Senate Republican races across the country. Husted will receive $79 million in contributions from the conservative PAC. 

On the Democratic side, Husted is expected to square off against former U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. He is looking to return to the Senate after losing to Bernie Moreno in 2024. 

Brown said his motivation to return to politics was the passage of Trump’s landmark One Big Beautiful Bill, legislation that included major tax savings for working families. Brown said that the bill perpetuates a “rigged system”. 

“We just couldn’t stay on the sideline. And I know I can fight back. Nobody in the Senate is speaking out for Ohio workers, nobody. And that’s my job to do. It’s what I’ve done my whole life, and it’s what I’m going to continue to do,” Brown said. 

Brown was first elected as a state representative in 1974. He served eight years in the Ohio House before serving two terms as Secretary of State. 

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992 and served six terms. He then defeated incumbent DeWine and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006. 

Husted is running unopposed and Brown is expected to win his primary, sending the pair to a likely face off in November.