Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance pauses during an event at Kenosha Municipal Court on August 20, 2024 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Marco Bello/Reuters/File
In the final months of the Republican primary for Ohio’s Senate seat, J.D. Vance found himself stuck in the middle of the pack.
A pro-super PAC pollster warns that Vance’s campaign is in “precipitous decline” and doubts he will be able to convince Republican voters of his conservative integrity and loyalty to Donald Trump. He claimed that he could not.
“Mr. Vance needs an immediate course correction,” the pollster wrote in a February 2022 memo.
It arrived a month later. The five primary candidates met many times on stage, and the two who were considered the most likely candidates almost came into conflict. As they stood nose to nose, one was preparing for a fight while the other was uttering sexist slurs. Vance, who was sitting on the edge of the stage, jumped on me.
“Think about what you just saw. This guy wants to be a U.S. senator and he comes here and says, ‘Wait a minute.’ Please stop,” Vance said, to loud applause. “What a joke. Answer the question. Stop fooling around.”
It was a landmark moment for Mr. Vance, and a renewed focus on the state’s Republican voters and Mr. Trump. Sources told CNN that footage of this exchange and other moments of discussion impressed Trump and helped Vance win a race-defining endorsement from the former president.
That ability will be put to the test again on Tuesday. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, will appear on the New York debate stage for the first time alongside Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.
Mr. Vance is only 40 years old and has been in politics for two years, but he still has little to prove. It’s also unclear whether he can successfully pull off the Democratic ticket while improving his popularity among voters, or at least without jeopardizing it further.
Read more of Vance’s story.
