It’s Election Day, and Ohio is one of the states that people are paying extra attention to today. Many are wondering who exactly is Republican candidate J.D. Vance and where did he come from?
Here’s what we know.
Where is J.D. Vance from?
Vance was born and raised in Middletown, Ohio, which ended up helping to shape his desire to have a career in politics, according to his campaign website.
Vance said that he watched his hometown go from a booming, flourishing town to a place with a dwindling population and no economic prospects. Vance detailed how this change had a profound effect on him in his 2016 book, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.”
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Vance attended Middletown High School and then served as a U.S. Marine.
He studied political science and philosophy at Ohio State University and went on to study law at Yale Law School. Following his studies he successfully invested in Silicon Valley and became a businessman.
How did J.D. Vance get into politics?
Vance’s 2016 book brought success and attention to his name. His book became a bestseller and was turned into a Netflix film, and Vance was launched into the spotlight as a political commentator.
Following the success of his book, Vance moved back to Ohio in 2017 and started a company that focused on creating jobs for people in the U.S., according to his website. Vance said that he saw that American businesses were struggling against “unfair competition from China and from their own government.”
While launching his business, Vance began commentating on politics, which brought about followers that helped launch his political campaign for the U.S. Senate seat in Ohio in 2021.
Vance received the Republican nomination for the Senate race on May 3.
What is Vance running on?
The official website for Vance’s campaign said there are many issues the Republican candidate is focused on solving as senator.
The issues that Vance says he will focus on include the opioid epidemic, spending and inflation, energy independence, bringing back “America’s manufacturing base,” immigration, big tech censorship, defending American small businesses, protecting the Second Amendment, abortion, election integrity, education and COVID-19.