J.D. Vance became a national name after 'Hillbilly Elegy.' Will that translate to votes in Ohio?
J.D. Vance paints himself as a family man.
At a Delaware shooting range last month, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate talked about his Mamaw's influence and said he planned to have a good time firing her .44 Magnum. He gave a shoutout to the restless babies in the room, using them to underscore his belief that Americans need to produce the next generation to counter the "childless left."
Instead of another politician, Vance's father Don – a self-described "Jesus man" – introduced him to the crowd of roughly 40 people.
The campaign pitch was clear: Vance, a venture capitalist who worked in Silicon Valley, wants voters to see him as an everyman who will fight the corporate and government establishment.
"I think of so much of politics through the eyes of my Mamaw and Papaw...they grew up very poor and they moved to southern Ohio because that was the land of opportunity," he told the audience. "That was the place where a guy could work hard and play by the rules and raise a family on a single middle-class income."
Vance burst into the crowded Ohio Senate race last year with name-recognition from his best-selling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" and a war chest funded by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. After the 2016 election, political observers adopted the book and its author as a guide for the rise of former President Donald Trump and disenchantment among the white working class.
But whether Vance's notoriety will give him a boost among Ohioans remains to be seen – particularly as he navigates questions of authenticity about his background and views on Trump.
"Despite what you see from the campaigns, Ohio voters in general are a sophisticated group because of Ohio’s previous status as a swing state," GOP consultant Mike Hartley said. "They have a pretty good bullshit radar. At the end of the day, they look at a candidate and they have to be genuine."
Vance's rise to national prominence
Vance grew up in Middletown, largely under the care of his grandparents, and graduated from Ohio State University after a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps. He left the Buckeye State to attend Yale Law School and work for Thiel's Mithril Capital, but eventually came back with his family and launched a Cincinnati-based venture capital firm.
Unlike several of his Republican opponents, however, Vance didn't spend years building capital in Ohio's political scene.
Josh Mandel has a long history in elected office, from Lyndhurst City Council to the state Legislature and treasurer's office. Jane Timken led the Ohio Republican Party for four years after securing Trump's support. Matt Dolan is a state senator, and Mike Gibbons unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2018.
"I tend to think that the attack that I’m not of Ohio significantly is sort of a political hit," Vance said in an interview. "There’s not a whole lot of substance to it. It’s not something I hear very much at all."
Shortly before his return to Ohio, "Hillbilly Elegy" catapulted Vance into the national spotlight amid an unpredictable 2016 election cycle. Book critics turned his experiences with poverty and drug addiction into a Bible of sorts on the plight of rust-belt America.
However, some Appalachians felt the book reinforced stereotypes about rural people and only gained traction because of Trump's presidential campaign.
"People were looking for easy answers," said Pauletta Hansel, an author and former poet laureate of Cincinnati. "They were looking for answers that may have supported their own particular worldview or expanded their worldview."
Trump comments, Big Tech ties pose challenges in GO
Vance's comments about Trump during that time – like calling him "noxious" and difficult to stomach – have complicated his bid for U.S. Senate. His Republican opponents and interest groups supporting them have repeatedly blasted Vance for his history on Trump and contend he's bending his political views to meet the moment.
Others question Vance's ties to Thiel and the Big Tech industry that he repeatedly pledges to dismantle.
"No other candidate in this race is acting more like a typical politician than J.D. Vance," former Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland said. "He is demonstrating that he has no core values, that he’s willing to shift his position in order to please Donald Trump."
In Delaware, Vance cast Thiel as someone who's "sounding the alarm" within Big Tech and said his experience in the industry makes him best equipped to address its problems. He also said he's up front with people about his evolution on the former president.
"Most voters don't ask me about it," he said. "I think most voters are pretty aware of where I come down on this stuff, and they're more interested in substance."
'You get to know someone'
Whether Vance's profile will help his chances in May is an open question, observers say. His lack of political experience could help sell the image of an outsider who will shake up the system, but he has to reconcile previously publicized views with where he stands now.
It's also difficult to see Vance as an Ohioan who happened to gain national fame, said Kyle Kondik, an Ohio native and managing editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball.
"I think he became a national figure with ties to Ohio," Kondik said.
Two of Vance's biggest endorsements in the race came from outside Ohio – Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene – but he's racked up support from several city and county officials, according to his campaign.
An event with Greene before the AFC Championship on Sunday attracted Vance supporters and voters who are undecided about the May primary. James Peterson of Terrace Park said Vance's campaign hand-delivered a signed copy of "Hillbilly Elegy" to him after he looked into the candidate – proof to Peterson that Vance is willing to put in the effort.
"The good thing is seeing him on a public stage frequently," Peterson said. "You get to know someone."
For Darlene Hicks, who leads the Republican Women of Warren County, Vance represents someone who can identify with the every-day American. She believes Vance worked hard to pull himself up and said it's difficult to relate to GOP candidates who have been able to rely on family money.
"There’s a different feeling you have if you’ve been there and done that," Hicks said, "and I think there’s a lot of respect that comes with that."
Cincinnati Enquirer reporter Scott Wartman contributed.
Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the Paste BN Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.