Rep. Mike Carrey wants J.D. Vance's Senate seat to implement President Trump's policies on 'day one'

Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio) is among a crowded list of candidates vying to replace Vice President-elect J.D. Vance when he formally retires from the Senate.

Carey, a former coal lobbyist and military veteran who won Ohio's 15th Congressional District for a third time, highlighted his experience working with President-elect Trump in the private sector in an interview with Fox News Digital. . Carey argued that whoever Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine chooses to replace Vance will need to be ready from “day one” to help implement the new administration's policies. Mr. Vance has not yet formally resigned.

Carey said the president-elect “needs someone in the Senate to make sure his policies pass,” as he has received three endorsements from Trump.

“I think that's the most important thing, because I want the president to be successful. I think the American people want the president to be successful,” Carey told Fox News Digital. “And I think that's what we need from the Ohio senator. So I would be honored to help him move his agenda forward in the United States Senate.”

“I think we need someone who can start on day one as a United States senator and be fully committed to the job,” said Carey, who serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Administration Committee. “We don't want people coming from the great state of Ohio who have to go through on-the-job training. So we have a track record of success here, you know, in the 15th Congressional District. can be easily argued in the Senate.

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Carey said that through his work on the House Administration Committee, he helped secure bipartisan support for the bill starting the Congressional Election Observer Program and ultimately helped it get signed into law by President Biden. The program sends Congressional pollsters to hotly contested House elections.

Carey also said the next senator needs to recognize the state's diversity.

“I've lived in Ohio all my life. I was born and raised in Ohio, but I think the senator needs to understand that we are a special state,” Carey said. . “There's a reason Columbus, Ohio, is a test market for all things related to food service, because we are a microcosm of America, and that's just Ohio.”

Similarly, Carey said his district, which has a minority population of about 22% and stretches from metropolitan Columbus to western suburbs, small towns and rural farmlands, is “a true microcosm of Ohio.” Carey said he beat Republican Sen.-elect Bernie Moreno in the district by more than 18,000 votes.

Moreno, a Cleveland businessman backed by President Trump, won 50.18% of the vote, defeating incumbent Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in a landslide earlier this month. Meanwhile, Carey secured re-election to the House of Representatives with 56.52% of the vote.

“I won the R-5 district by 13 points. So I think I have a track record. And if people look at my voting record and what I've done, they're like, 'I won by 13 points. “I brought home more than $60 million in three years, and I've only been in office for three years,” Carey said. “I worked in the private sector before that, so I don't have a career in politics, but the opportunity to serve the state that I love is because I grew up in Cincinnati and Sabina and served in the military all the way to Camp Perry. ”My family is from Cleveland and my career was spent in Appalachia. Therefore, the opportunity to serve all the people of Ohio is the honor of my life. ”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) (left) and Vice President-elect Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) walk together at the Capitol on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

A new candidate emerges in a crowded field to replace Vance in the Ohio Senate seat.

On the campaign trail, Trump highlighted two issues that Carey said he was personally working on: tax credits for caregivers and in vitro fertilization (IVF). Most of the 27 bills Carey introduced in the House have at least one Democratic co-sponsor, the lawmaker said, including a $3,000 tax bill for home health care providers who want to provide home care. It also includes the Caring Credit Act, which provides deductions. take care of their loved ones.

Over the past few months, Carey said he has also been working on tax credits for Americans who “cannot afford IVF.”

“If someone wants to have a child, we should do everything possible to give them the opportunity to have a child,” Carey told Fox News Digital. “Again, I think both are very bipartisan ideas that the president has been pushing. I'm honored to be able to work on those ideas in the Senate, and you know, I think they're both very bipartisan ideas that the president has been pushing. It's an honor to work on this idea.”

Rep. Mike Carey (R-Ohio) listens during a House Ways and Means hearing on the Anti-Default Act, Thursday, March 9, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images)

Mr. DeWine said his selection would be advantageous to thwarting Democrats' chances of reclaiming the Ohio Senate caucus in November 2026, when a special election will be held during the remaining two years of his six-year term. He suggested that he needed to be in a position.

In addition to Mr. Carey, members of the Ohio caucus vying to replace Mr. Vance include Congressman Jim Jordan, Congressman David Joyce, and Congressman Warren Davidson. But electing a House member could weaken the already slim Republican majority in the House, and Mr. DeWine has no idea how many months it would take for a House vacancy to be filled under Ohio election rules. There is a possibility that it will be considered.

The vast number of Republican candidates participating in the 2022 and 2024 Ohio primaries widens the field of candidates to replace Mr. Vance.

Candidates include former Ohio Republican Party Chairwoman Jane Timken. He served two terms as Secretary of State Frank LaRose. And state Sen. Matt Dolan's family owns the Cleveland Guardians baseball team. Two-term Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague and Mehek Cook, a Republican lawyer and strategist who frequently appears on Fox News, are also reportedly under consideration.

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“The governor is someone I've looked up to since I was in elementary school. He was a state senator. He was a member of the House of Representatives. He was in the Senate. He understands the nature of political organizations.” Mr. Carey said. “But he also understands that he needs someone who understands Ohio State. I mean, there's no one who loves Ohio State more than me, Mike DeWine. … And he I think they want to bring someone into the fold.''It's an office that loves the country as much as he does, and I think I fit that criteria. ”