Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) is facing a key decision on whom to tap to fill the term of Vice President-elect Vance as jockeying among Ohio Republicans for the coveted appointment is set to become a knife fight.

Vance will be departing the upper chamber only two years after winning his seat, creating a vacancy that will have ramifications both immediately and down the line. The appointed senator would be staring down back-to-back campaigns: a high-stakes special election in 2026 and a race in 2028.

With a rare opening, Republicans are expecting an intraparty battle in a state that has become increasingly red in recent years.

“[The] jockeying will be intense,” Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) said.

Discussions are still in their infancy, but speculation is running rampant over whom DeWine may pick, with the governor’s office already receiving a steady stream of outreach from interested parties.

“A lot of people are calling,” DeWine told reporters Thursday. “We’re just going through the process of starting to think about this and see who would be the best person.”

DeWine also acknowledged that whoever is chosen must be ready to hit the ground running and have the ability to run and win the pair of coming Senate races, much like what Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) is trying to accomplish.

The senator is also expected to be a consensus pick, rather than someone either purely in the mold of DeWine, a moderate GOP governor, or cut wholly from MAGA cloth.

“I suspect that DeWine is going to pick someone that's broadly acceptable to the whole party,” a Trump World source told The........

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