OHIO — Former President Donald Trump announced Friday he is endorsing “Hillbilly Elegy” author JD Vance for Ohio Senate.
“In the Great State of Ohio, the candidate most qualified and ready to win in November is JD Vance,” Trump wrote in a press release. “We cannot play games. It is all about winning!”
Vance responded to Trump’s endorsement on Twitter, saying “I’m incredibly honored to have President Trump’s support.”
I’m incredibly honored to have President Trump’s support. He was an incredible fighter for hard working Americans in the White House, he will be again, and I’ll fight for the America First Agenda in the Senate. https://t.co/s3d3JhTgBC
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) April 15, 2022
JD Vance’s book was widely seen in 2016 as an explaination of Trump’s appeal to struggling white, working-class voters. Vance’s book, which was made into a movie, detailed his hardscrabble, colorful upbringing in the struggling Ohio steel mill city of Middletown and his familial roots in Appalachian Kentucky.
Vance jumped into the Senate race in July, which now features a total of seven Republican candidates vying for Sen. Rob Portman’s seat, including former Ohio Republican Party Chair Jane Timken, former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, investment banker Mike Gibbons, State Sen. Matt Dolan, businessman Neil Patel and IT executive Mark Pukita.
“This is not an easy endorsement for me to make because I like and respect some of the other candidates in the race — they’ve said great things about ‘Trump’ and, like me, they love Ohio and love our country. I’ve studied this race closely and I think J.D. is the most likely to take out the weak, but dangerous,” Trump wrote.
The endorsement came just a few weeks before the May 3 primary, and just a week away from Trump’s scheduled visit to Delaware County on April 23.
Earlier Friday, the Associated Press reported a draft letter circulated among some Republican lawmakers, preparing to ask Trump to not endorse Vance for the Senate seat.
In bullet points, they reminded Trump of Vance’s past comments, including references to potentially supporting Hillary Clinton and comparing the former president to “another opioid.”
Trump addressed this in his statement, saying, “Like some others, JD Vance may have said some not so great things about me in the past, but he gets it now, and I have seen that in spades.”
The letter, signed by GOP party leaders, including a slew of county chairs, told the former president that “an endorsement that cuts against your support and legacy in Ohio will only serve to confuse or upset voters” and may even suppress Republican turnout in the fall.
Vance supporters, meanwhile, urged Trump to stick with him.
“President Trump would be making a fantastic choice by endorsing JD Vance,” said Marshall Pitchford, the chairman of Ohio Right to Life. “JD is 100% pro-life without exceptions. He will continue President Trump’s pro-life victories in the US Senate.”
