Here are the candidates most likely to fill JD Vance’s Senate seat

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is faced with a crowded field of candidates vying to fill Vice President-elect JD Vance’s seat in the Senate, but a new poll shows some candidates are going into the battle with an advantage.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose leads fellow candidates in a hypothetical GOP primary for Vance’s seat conducted by WPA Intelligence. LaRose’ closest competitor is Lieutenant Gov. Jon Husted, who was favored by 10% of respondents compared to LaRose’s 17%.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, another contender for the seat, received 9% support. Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, is in the midst of aggressively pitching himself for Vance’s role, but he received just 2% support in the poll.

Attorney Mehek Cooke, a Republican attorney who served as a surrogate for the Trump campaign in 2024, received 1% support in the poll. 

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A large number of voters, 39%, remain undecided in the race, however.

WPA conducted the poll from Nov. 17-20, surveying 1,028 Ohio likely voters statewide via phone interviews and online. The poll advertises a margin of error of 3.1%.

LaRose also leads the pack when filtering for candidates who have received an endorsement from President-elect Trump in the past. LaRose received 30% support under those parameters, with his closest competitor being former Ohio Rep. Jim Rennaci.

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Carey has also received a Trump endorsement prior to the current contest, and he received 7% support.

Both Trump and Vance have so far been silent when it comes to filling the vacant Senate seat, and their endorsements are likely to be the deciding factor in the contest.

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DeWine has confirmed that he is deliberating about whom to select for the seat, telling local media on Tuesday that he wants to have a candidate ready for whenever Vance formally resigns his seat.

“We want someone who’s going to be fighting for Ohio every single day,” he said.

WPA concluded from its polling that LaRose would “clearly be the strongest GOP choice” both to replace Vance and to defeat a Democratic challenger in the next election.

As Ohio’s secretary of state, LaRose has led efforts to combat illegal voting. His office purged hundreds of thousands of wrongful voter registrations, including hundreds of non-citizen registrations, prior to Election Day. He also sued President Biden’s administration in October in an effort to force the administration to assist in cleaning up voter rolls.