COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted will replace J.D. Vance in Congress' upper chamber, as the former senator readies for his inauguration as vice president. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Husted's appointment during a Friday news conference, in the wake of Vance’s 2024 White House victory alongside President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn in at the Capital on Jan. 20. Now, Husted will serve in the Senate until a November 2026 special election, where Ohioans will then get to decide who will complete Vance's term, which runs through 2028. "I believe and know that Jon is prepared to be United States senator from the state of Ohio," DeWine said, who will also now need to appoint a new lieutenant governor. "The U.S. Senate rewards hard workers. It rewards those who master the facts. It rewards those who focus on getting things done." Ohio billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy was also rumored to be interested, but initially removed himself from consideration shortly after the November election. However, a Washington Post report on Jan. 15 revealed Trump was encouraging Ramaswamy to take the seat.  Born in Cincinnati, Ramaswamy is now planning to launch a 2026 gubernatorial run, according to The Hill. If Ramaswamy does run, he won't have to face Husted, who was seen as a potential Republican contender. Still, Ramaswamy would likely compete against Attorney General Dave Yost in the primary and possibly former state health director Amy Acton, a Democrat, in November 2026. Husted was raised in northwest Ohio's Williams County and earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Dayton, where he was an All-American defensive back for the Flyers. Husted went on to serve as Speaker of the Ohio House, a state senator and as Ohio Secretary of State, and was elected lieutenant governor in 2018.  After Friday's announcement, Husted told NBC4 he's "just a servant," and that he's "not going to be self-congratulatory and say I'm better than all these other people." "[DeWine] knows that I care about economic development and jobs and education and the middle class working families of our state that I understand how policies affect Ohio from the federal government level," said Husted. "And I think he just trusted me that I would go do a job, a job where I represented Ohio well with integrity and passion." DeWine previously told NBC4 he had several conversations with prospective candidates, but stayed tight-lipped about who he was considering. Husted had emerged as a frontrunner, while other candidates in the mix included former Senate candidate Jane Timken, Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Treasurer Robert Sprague, state Sen. Matt Dolan and Attorney Mehek Cooke.  While speaking to reporters on Thursday after announcing a new Pickaway County defense manufacturing facility, DeWine said, "The person I pick is going to really understand Ohio and be an advocate for Ohio." "This is a huge job, it's a very important job. It's particularly important at this period in our history," the governor said. "This is a perilous time, as far as our national defense and as far as our foreign policy. This is something that we look, frankly, to U.S. Senators to focus on. Whoever I pick, will have to be focused on that."  When asked before November's election if Husted would be interested in replacing Vance, the lieutenant governor told NBC4 the Trump-Vance ticket needed to secure a victory first. When NBC4 followed-up and asked again on Jan. 8, Husted said, "We're considering all of the options. And, you know, just it's really all I have to say." Vance stepped down from his seat on Jan. 9, marking the end of a two-year run serving as Ohio's junior senator after he beat Democratic challenger Tim Ryan in 2022 to fill the vacancy left by former Republican Sen. Rob Portman.  A venture capitalist known for authoring the 2016 memoir-turned-Netflix-movie "Hillbilly Elegy," Vance was propelled to victory in a crowded Ohio Senate primary in 2022 after receiving Trump’s highly-coveted endorsement. The 40-year-old will be the first vice president from Ohio, and was the first vice presidential candidate from Ohio since 1944. As a senator, the Middletown native touted himself as a defender of Trump's "Make America Great Again" agenda, aiming to reverse the Biden administration's "needless spending" and double down on securing the U.S.-Mexico border.