Former president Donald Trump chose Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his vice-presidential running mate on Monday, tasking him with the job of campaigning for the votes of farmers and workers in the Democratic “Blue Wall” states of the Midwest. Vance, a one-time critic of Trump, vaulted to celebrity as author of Hillbilly Elegy, a 2016 memoir hailed as an explanation of Trump’s blue-collar appeal.
Elected to the Senate in 2022 — his first public office, with Trump’s endorsement — Vance has a limited record on agriculture. He was appointed to the Banking, Commerce, and Transportation committees. He is a Marine veteran and a graduate of the Yale Law School.
“J.D. has had a very successful business career in technology and finance, and now, during the campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American workers and farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond,” said Trump on his campaign website.
President Biden won Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois in 2020; a so-called Blue Wall. This year, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin are rated as toss-ups and Minnesota is listed as “leans” Democratic by the Crystal Ball, a political handicapper. Illinois remained solidly Democratic.