COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance will resign from his seat in Congress’ upper chamber on Thursday ahead of his inauguration as vice president to President-elect Donald Trump.

Vance will step down from his seat at midnight on Thursday, 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. Vance will be sworn in as vice president alongside Trump at the Capitol on Jan. 20.

“To the people of Ohio, I extend my heartfelt gratitude for the privilege of representing you in the United States Senate,” Vance said in a statement. “When I was elected to this office, I promised to never forget where I came from, and I’ve made sure to live by that promise every single day.”

Trump had announced Vance’s appointment as his running mate in July on the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The duo went on to win the 2024 White House race by earning 312 electoral votes, while Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz received 226 electoral votes.

Now, Gov. Mike DeWine is responsible for temporarily filling Vance’s Senate seat. That person will serve in the Senate until a special election is scheduled for November 2026, where Ohioans will then get to decide who will complete Vance’s term, which runs through 2028.

A spokesperson confirmed that DeWine and several other Republican governors are at Mar-a-Lago meeting with Trump on Thursday.

DeWine told NBC4’s Natalie Fahmy that he has had several conversations on the topic, but is staying tight-lipped about who he is considering. Republican Lt. Gov. Jon Husted has emerged as a frontrunner, with other candidates like Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Treasurer Robert Sprague, state Sen. Matt Dolan and Attorney Mehek Cooke in the mix.

When asked before November’s election if Husted would be interested in replacing Vance, the lieutenant governor told Fahmy the Trump-Vance ticket needed to secure a victory first. When Fahmy followed-up and asked again on Wednesday, Husted said, “We’re considering all of the options. And, you know, just it’s really all I have to say.”

DeWine said Wednesday he was “not ready to make an announcement yet, but the announcement will be coming soon.” The governor’s spokesperson said on Thursday they have “no updated on the pending appointment.”

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost was also believed to be under consideration, but posted a video on social media in November that signaled his intention to run for governor in 2026. However, DeWine voiced for support for Husted’s own possible gubernatorial run, saying he would “be a great governor” when asked if Husted could replace Vance in the Senate.

Vance, a venture capitalist known for authoring the 2016 memoir-turned-Netflix-movie “Hillbilly Elegy,” 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.

Vance was a Trump critic in 2016, casting the then-reality TV star as “a total fraud,” “moral disaster” and “America’s Hitler.” Since then, Vance has said he was proved wrong by Trump’s performance in office, and argued that most of the criticism was aired by rivals during his 2022 Senate campaign.