The 538 members of the Electoral College met around the country Monday, to fulfill their constitutionally-required duty of casting ballots for president and vice president. There weren’t any surprises as 56th Ohio Electoral College convened at the Statehouse, with the state’s 17 electors making the 2024 vote official by voting for Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance.
And in contrast to the same meeting in 2020, Ohio’s electors reported no questions or concerns about the results of this election.
Ohio Republican Party Chair Alex Triantifilou emphasized Vice President-elect Vance, who’s been the state’s GOP U.S. senator since 2022, when addressing the electors.
“Our task today is simple honor the will of over 3 million Ohioans who gave us our directions for how they want these 17 electoral votes to be cast. We will do so today in historic fashion, as we will cast our votes for Donald J. Trump for president of the United States, and for our fellow Ohioan,” Triantifilou said.
Trump, who won the Buckeye State by eight points in 2020, won Ohio by 12 points this November. And his win had long coattails, as Republicans won all statewide offices on the ballot. And Longtime U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown was also defeated by newcomer Bernie Moreno, a businessman from Northeast Ohio.
The electors seemed joyous and happy to cast their ballots, and unlike in 2020, expressed no doubts about the results of the election in other states.
Jim Brennan, an elector who represents the 9th Congressional district, said he was proud to cast his ballot for Trump and Vance.
“It’s just a beautiful day, right? This is the process that our founding fathers put in place and here we are,” Brennan said.
Elector and Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones made controversial statements in the past about the outcome of the 2020 election which President Joe Biden won. Butler, who wore his trademark cowboy hat while casting his votes, said he thinks this election has “changed things.”
“The whole world changed on election night. Seems like the hate went away. Even the people that were against President Trump started liking what he had to say. The big cities, they were talking about immigration,” Jones said. “So everything is changed. The House, the Senate, the Supreme Court, everything has automatically changed. Concerns about election laws - that was four years ago.”
Other electors said they were also pleased with the outcome in this election. Diane Cunningham Redden, who represents the 1st Congressional district in Cincinnati, praised Ohio’s election process for making the winner known on Election Night.
“I think that too many states are about to have 30 days to count ballots. In Ohio, we seem to get it done that night, and it is incredulous to me that other states weeks later still are counting. It's crazy,” she said.
The electoral college vote isn’t the final step. The US Congress will vote to accept the Electoral College votes in January, in a meeting that was marked by an attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump and Vance will be sworn in as president and vice-president on Jan. 20.
Gov. Mike DeWine is still mulling over who he will appoint to replace Vance in the Senate. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted is thought to be a frontrunner for that pick. He has set up the paperwork to run for governor in 2026, and would likely face Attorney General Dave Yost, who’s indicated he’ll run but hasn’t formally announced it.
Other names that have been mentioned as possible replacements for Vance include Treasurer Robert Sprague, U.S. Rep. Mike Carey (OH-15), and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who Trump has appointed to head a new agency to create government efficiency. DeWine said whoever he appoints will have to be able to raise money and win a primary in two years when they’d have to go before voters to keep that seat.
The U.S. Senate will be sworn in on Jan. 3.
