Former President Trump taps Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance as running mate in 2024

VANDALIA, OHIO - NOVEMBER 07: Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate JD Vance greet supporters during the rally at the Dayton International Airport on November 7, 2022 in Vandalia, Ohio. Trump campaigned at the rally for Ohio Republican candidates including Republican candidate for U.S. Senate JD Vance, who is running in a tight race against Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH). (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

A little more than three years ago, J.D. Vance was just an author and conservative commentator. Now he might be next in line for the White House. It’s a dizzying political ascent for the 39-year-old man from Middletown, Ohio.

His 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy put him on the national stage as many were searching for an explanation to the rise of Donald Trump. At the time, Vance himself was extremely critical of the incoming president, but by the time he was running for office in 2022, Vance had reversed his thinking. Instead of “cultural heroin,” he argued Trump was the “greatest president in my lifetime.”

Vance’s embrace of Trump helped him secure the former president’s endorsement in his U.S. Senate race, and since taking office, Vance has been one of Trump’s most consistent defenders. On cable news and Sunday talk shows, the Yale law grad has shown a knack for smoothing the sharp edges off of Trump’s latest pronouncements without walking back his point. As the Trump campaign works to extend beyond its conservative base, Vance’s skills as a communicator and translator — presenting a more palatable version of the nominee’s message — could help appeal to undecided voters.

Still, there’s plenty in Vance’s own messaging that could turn some voters off. As a U.S. Senate candidate he leaned heavily into anti-immigrant rhetoric. On the campaign trail and in office, he has stridently opposed ongoing support for Ukraine. That stance is particularly notable given Ohio’s substantial Ukrainian community and Vance’s predecessor, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman co-founded and chaired the Senate Ukraine caucus. Critics argue Vance’s statements about the war mirror rhetoric coming out of the Kremlin.

On the other hand, Vance has signed on to several bipartisan pieces of legislation. In addition to co-sponsoring rail safety and unfair trade legislation with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, Vance has backed U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s, D-MA, bill to claw back bonuses from executives at failed banks, and U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s, D-RI, bill that would eliminate a lucrative tax exemption for larger mergers.

Vance has also praised FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan for taking a more critical view of business consolidation. That more aggressive posture has earned Khan the ire of traditional GOP allies like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

What does he bring to the ticket?

When a presidential nominee selects a running mate, they often attempt to answer a perceived shortcoming. The vice-presidential pick might come from an important state or region. Maybe they have strong connections with a particular interest group or represent a wing of the party. Perhaps they bring greater governing experience to the table.

Ohio State political science professor emeritus Paul Beck argued Vance’s appeal for the ticket certainly isn’t geographic.

“Well, I think one thing Vance doesn’t bring is votes in Ohio that Trump would need,” Beck said. “He doesn’t need them.”

In 2016 and 2020, Trump won Ohio handily. In 2022, as Republicans nationwide underperformed, Vance and every other statewide Republican candidate won their races in Ohio.

Beck contrasted Vance with former Vice President Mike Pence, who helped bring Christian evangelicals into the fold. Vance doesn’t have a similar affinity group to add, but Beck suggested he might help solidify support among one of Trump’s strongest groups of supporters — white working-class voters. Vance speaks their language, Beck argued, when it comes to trade and offshoring.

“It could well be that he brings that group or at least solidifies that group in the Trump coalition,” Beck said, but allowed, “I don’t think Trump needs, necessarily, somebody who is going to strongly appeal to that particular part of his base. On the other hand he doesn’t want someone on his ticket, I would think, who would be opposed.”

Instead, Beck emphasized Vance’s ability as a communicator. “He certainly has emerged as one of the most forceful and articulate defenders of a lot of conservative policy,” Beck argued. And as part of the ticket, he added, Vance could be an asset “downplay(ing) some of the major Democratic criticisms of Trump and deflect(ing) them in a way that is plausible.”

Personal perspective

Dan Driscoll first met Vance as part of a veteran’s group at Yale and described him a reassuring voice for a “scared, humbled, self-conscious” first year law student. In an interview Driscoll said he’s “thrilled for a friend I have a ton of respect for and our country to get an amazing leader.”

Since graduating, Driscoll has settled in North Carolina. In 2020 he ran for the Republican nomination for the congressional seat vacated by former Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows. He lost in a crowded primary to the eventual winner, former Rep. Madison Cawthorn.

Driscoll argued Vance’s run of success from a book, to a movie, to a venture capital fund — “most people, one of those would be an amazing lifetime achievement” — is no accident. He described the senator as “one of the single hardest workers” he’s ever met.

And like Beck, he pointed to Vance’s communication skills as a kind of a “superpower,” but insisted it works because he’s saying what he believes.

“My true genuine perspective is that he just wants to make a difference for a set of the population that seems to have been pretty overlooked since the 80’s or 90’s,” Driscoll said.

He argued Vance is skeptical of elite political consensus on issues like trade because it has contributed the hollowing out of working-class communities like Middletown where he grew up. It was a familiar part of Vance’s stump speech throughout his U.S. Senate campaign. Driscoll brought up examples of Vance working with some of the most liberal lawmakers in the Senate, and argued he wouldn’t do so unless they shared concerns about policies impact those communities.

“Even if what he’s saying doesn’t fit in these clean boxes of the left or the right, if he believes it, he will say it,” Driscoll argued. “And that’s really compelling to a lot of people, I think.”

Follow OCJ Reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.

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