By Bo Erickson and Nathan Layne
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine appointed his state's lieutenant governor, Jon Husted, on Friday to fill Vice President-elect JD Vance's former seat in the U.S. Senate.
The move was among several playing out as members of the party's narrow majorities in Congress prepare to join President-elect Donald Trump's new administration on Monday.
Husted, 57, is a former speaker of the state House of Representatives who was also seen as a leading candidate to succeed the term-limited DeWine.
"We have worked to make Ohio great again, and I look forward to working with President Trump, JD Vance to make America great again," Husted told a news conference.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday named state Attorney General Ashley Moody to replace U.S. Senator Marco Rubio if the Senate confirms him as secretary of state.
Those two appointments will preserve Republicans' 53-47 Senate majority.
The party's slim House of Representatives' majority will shrink to 217-214 until April if the Senate confirms two members' appointments to cabinet posts, because House seats can only be filled through special elections.
That will complicate Republican efforts to quickly pass Trump's agenda of tax cuts, fossil fuel production and immigration enforcement.
Vance, who had served as U.S. senator for Ohio since January 2023, resigned last week before the inauguration. It is unclear when Husted will be sworn into the Senate.
Husted will fill Vance's seat until a November 2026 special election for the right to complete the six-year term until January 2029.
RAMASWAMY TO RUN FOR OHIO GOVERNOR
Separately, entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy plans to run in 2026 to succeed DeWine, according to a source familiar with his intentions.
An Ohio native, Ramaswamy serves alongside Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Chief Executive Elon Musk on an outside body called the Department of Governmental Efficiency tasked with finding cuts in the nation's $6.8 trillion federal budget.
Ramaswamy plans to continue on the task force, the source said.