(DCNF)—Republican Ohio Sen. Jon Husted — less than 12 weeks after taking the oath of office in January — is already gearing up for a bid to retain his seat with President Donald Trump fully behind him.
Husted spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation on Friday about his first months as a U.S. senator and Trump’s endorsement of his candidacy for a 2026 special election contest. He’s been a stalwart vote in supporting the president’s nominees and legislative agenda thus far and has cast himself as a problem solver eager to get involved in the legislative process on behalf of Ohioans.
“I’m glad to be part of the Trump team, glad to be part of the Republican team, and will continue to fight for the people of Ohio, as I have done during my time in public service,” Husted told the DCNF.
Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine appointed Husted, who had served as DeWine’s lieutenant governor for six years, in January to fill Vice President JD Vance’s former Senate seat. Husted was sworn in Jan. 21, the same day as Republican Florida Sen. Ashley Moody who succeeded Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Husted has joined the Republican conference in embarking on the busiest Senate session in recent memory. The Senate of the Congress that began in January has cast more votes than any Senate over the same time frame dating back to when Ronald Reagan was president, according to the Senate Republicans Communications Center. Senate Republicans are also confirming the president’s nominees more quickly than three prior administrations.
“This is a record pace,” Husted told the DCNF. “Yet in spite of the fact that the Democrats have tried to hold us up in every turn, we’ve been working overtime to get it [the Trump agenda] accomplished. No matter what the Democrats do to try to stop us, we’re just going to stay there until we get the job done.”
Husted stayed up until the early morning hours the day of his conversation with the DCNF waiting to confirm Ret. Lt. Gen. Dan Caine as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Senate Democrats did not consent to a time agreement to let the chamber vote on the nomination earlier in the evening despite the nominee cruising to confirmation with bipartisan support.
It was the second time in less than a week that Republicans had worked past 2 a.m. to advance the president’s nominees and Trump-backed legislation over Democratic opposition.
“We’ve proven as Republicans that we can work together and govern,” Husted told the DCNF. “This is President Trump’s agenda that we’re trying to get accomplished.”
Though Husted has not yet officially launched his candidacy, he is gearing up for back-to-back election contests that could draw competitive Democratic challengers.
Husted is expected to run in a special election in 2026 to serve out the remainder of Vance’s term which ends in Jan. 2029. The freshman senator also previously suggested that he is prepared to launch another reelection bid in 2028, which would be for a full six-year term in the upper chamber.
The lawmaker said Trump called him before giving him his “complete and total endorsement” in a Truth Social post Wednesday, citing Husted’s support for the president’s “America First” agenda.
“I think that working with me for the short time I’ve been in the Senate, he said, ‘We’re getting along great. You’re doing a great job. And I want to get this endorsement out there.’ And so that meant a lot to me,” Husted told the DCNF.
Trump soundly defeated his Democratic opponents in Ohio each time he ran for president since 2016. His endorsements of Vance and Republican Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno helped both candidates clear crowded primary fields and defeat well-funded Democratic general election candidates.
“I’ve won statewide four times,” Husted continued, referring to his two successful campaigns each for the offices of lieutenant governor and Ohio Secretary of State. “Now with President Trump’s endorsement, that is a huge boost going into an election cycle where the Democrats are going to do all they can to try to take back the U.S. Senate from the Republicans.”
Senate Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority following the 2024 election cycle. The National Republican Senatorial Committee is expected to aggressively defend Husted’s seat. The 2024 Ohio Senate contest between Moreno and then-Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown was the most expensive non-presidential race in history, totaling roughly $550 million.
Early analysis from the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the forthcoming 2026 contest as “likely Republican.”
DeWine said he chose Husted in part because he wanted a “workhorse” to serve the people of Ohio in the Senate.
While Husted will have to campaign in two successive electoral cycles to retain his seat for the rest of the 2020s, he is also fully committed to finding legislative solutions for an array of problems he believes should be addressed.
Making the government more efficient? He wants to use artificial intelligence to eliminate redundancies in the federal regulatory code.
Reining in out-of-control spending? He floated placing work requirements on able-bodied, childless adults eligible for Medicaid to put the program on a more responsible fiscal footing.
Removing government obstacles preventing America from building? Husted hopes to remove burdensome regulations that he says prevented a string of government failures under former President Joe Biden — including stalled initiatives regarding rural broadband, semiconductor manufacturing and electric vehicle charging stations.
“There are a lot of people who like to be in the media, in the spotlight,” Husted told the DCNF. “I’m very content with just putting my head down and working and trying to solve problems.”
“So, when the President calls and says, ‘There’s something that we got to get done,’ I figure out how to get it done,” Husted continued. “When the governor calls and says, ‘There’s something that we need to get done,’ I work to get it done.”
He believes his decades of public service have given him unique insight into the needs of Ohioans he is committed to serve.
“I’m not a creature of that environment,” Husted told the DCNF, noting that he never worked a day in Washington until his Senate appointment. “What I am is a guy who grew up humbly in rural Ohio, who experienced the good and bad of the economic whirlwind that has been the last 50 years in this former Rust Belt state and I know the people here really well from all walks of life, and I know the issues in Ohio.”
Husted is already working with the administration to ensure the East Palestine community ravaged by the 2023 toxic train derailment disaster is fully cleaned up. He wants the community to be in better shape than it was before.
He also said he is also fully behind the president’s “Made in America” agenda, arguing it will be beneficial for Ohio’s economy. The senator emphasized that his support for returning manufacturing jobs to the United States long predated his arrival in Washington.
“I know what it takes,” Husted told the DCNF. “I see how blue states fail and red states win and how a hollowed out, formerly Rust Belt economy can be rejuvenated into a thriving and hopeful future in a state like Ohio.”
“That’s the kind of stuff — doing the hard work, staying on the issues until we drive them into the ground and we win — that’s the kind of guy that I am,” Husted continued. “I work with everybody and I’m just interested in making America dominant.”
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