‘Trump will call’

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The race to replace Vice President-elect J.D. Vance in the Senate is on, but top GOP strategists tell The Post there are only two real candidates left: Jane Timken and Vivek Ramaswamy.

Timken, a Harvard-educated lawyer and chairman of the Ohio Republican Party, is a slight favorite in the eyes of Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, sources close to his decision say.

The deciding factor will be President-elect Donald Trump. Sources say that if he decides to put pressure on DeWine and ask him to appoint another candidate for Make America Great Again, Ramaswami will win the seat. But if the decision remains in DeWine’s famously liberal hands, experts believe Timken has got it right.

“In my opinion he is a good compromise between MAGA and DeWine,” a Republican insider who worked closely on Ohio’s senatorial transition told The Post.

Bucky the GOP’s real fear is the Democrats Sherrod Brown Coming back to challenge this new appointee in the upcoming special election necessary to take full control of Vance’s seat. Whoever fills it may not only be suited to driving a conservative agenda on the Hill, they also need to have enough appeal to potentially unseat Brown in a statewide election without Trump at the top of the ticket.

“It’s going to be discretion,” a GOP insider at Miami University in Ohio told The Post. “DeWine won’t like it, but Trump is the one to make the call. And Divine will take that call.

According to this source, Governor DeWine is not a “MAGA guy” Ramaswami But ultimately they see the once and future POTUS as having the final say.

DeWine may be the outgoing governor in 2026 and there will be no election, but that doesn’t mean Trump and the new GOP can’t pull at his heart-(or purse)-strings.

Unless he wants to spend the next two years (or more) watching every candidate he supports, cut every budget item he sponsors in the primary, and Trump take control of Ohio’s state Congress. -If he doesn’t want to see every veto overturned by loyalists, he has to play ball with the Commander in Chief.

But the governor may still have a little time to work out a deal for Timken with Trump’s GOP powerbrokers.

When asked about his replacement, Vance himself told reporters, “I’m too superstitious to think about it now.” election Day,

“This seems like a problem for January 21,” Vance’s newly elected colleague in the Senate, Bernie Moreno, said at an event where Vance was speaking in October. “It’s not for today.”

Both politicians were not available for comment for this story, and Ramaswamy himself was also not available.

The 39-year-old CEO was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, before founding a successful technology company, writing a book about “woke” businesses and making an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the presidency earlier this year. Planted. That “GOP 2.0” Blueprint Fits Trump and the New republican Then there are: He appeals to young voters, he’s economically focused in terms of policy, and he’s a successful business leader who has spent little to no time in the “swamp” of DC like Vance and Moreno. .

“What has happened in America, and what we are going to fix, is the greatest demasculinization in American history,” Ramaswamy said at a college campaign event for Moreno in October. “It starts with our economy. The first generation that will pay into systems like Social Security and not pay in is actually sitting in front of me today.

Joining Ramaswamy and Timken on the list of hopefuls is the traditional Boys Club of Ohio.

• Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted: Husted is an experienced politician with massive name recognition that would help the GOP win a special election. However, most experts believe Husted has his heart set on the governor’s chair during a trip to Capitol Hill in 2026.
• Secretary Of State outspoken larose: A military man with strong MAGA roots, LaRose has been a “heavyweight” for Republicans in Ohio when it comes to tough issues like election integrity. However, some think he is too conservative to win the special election, especially if defeated Democrat Sherrod Brown rises from the ashes.
• Attorney General David Yost: Ohio AGs are a respected powerhouse in the state, but their popularity among young voters and women is lacking.

Once Vance officially resigns his Senate seat to begin his transition to the vice presidency, DeWine is required by law to name a successor “without delay” and to elect this successor to a special state. They will need to win the election if they want to keep their shiny new post for a full six years.

If elected, Ramaswamy or Timken will join Moreno in Washington, where Stair has promised to begin work immediately on introducing tax cuts, helping illegal immigrants immigrants And Senator Chuck Schumer was “dismissed” as majority leader.

DeWine’s decision could come any day now, but, in the wake of his landslide victory, the sentiment around Columbus is now clear: It doesn’t matter whose name is on the governor’s desk, it’s Donald Trump. Let’s run this city.