Trump Reportedly Backing J.D. Vance In Ohio Senate Race—Latest Test Of Dubious Endorsement Power

Topline

Former President Donald Trump plans to endorse conservative commentator and Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance in the crowded Ohio Senate race, according to NBC News, in what will be a major challenge for the power of Trump’s endorsement given Vance’s meager poll numbers.

J.D. Vance, the venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy”, addresses a rally on July 1, … [+] 2021 in Middletown, Ohio, where he announced he is joining the crowded Republican race for the Ohio U.S. Senate seat being left by Rob Portman. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

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Key Facts

Trump is backing Vance despite concerns about the candidate’s low polling, which the former president worries could amount to a wasted endorsement, according to NBC News, citing sources familiar with Trump’s decision.

Vance is running third in the Republican field with 11% support, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average, but that’s only 9 percentage points behind the leader, investment banker Mike Gibbons.

Vance is well-known for his 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which recalled his time growing up in a working class white family in southern Ohio and was later adapted into a film.

The book, which some thought explained Appalachia’s shift from a Democratic to a Republican stronghold, has since been examined as an explainer for Trump’s overwhelming support among working class white voters who believe social welfare programs undermine personal responsibility.

Vance was a vocal critic of Trump in 2016, but later deleted tweets denouncing him and ultimately said he regretted opposing Trump.

Key Background

Trump’s status as a Republican kingmaker appears in serious doubt, as several of his high-profile endorsements struggle in polling. Trump-backed former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), for example, remains well behind incumbent Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in the state’s gubernatorial contest, even though Trump has repeatedly attacked Kemp for not helping overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Trump last month withdrew his endorsement of Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) in Alabama’s open Senate contest, after polling showed Brooks well off the lead and the congressman ignored Trump’s demands to make allegations of voter fraud a front-and-center issue in his campaign. Candidates Trump has endorsed in gubernatorial races in Kansas and Idaho also appear to be having trouble gaining momentum.

Surprising Fact

Trump’s Save America PAC recently transferred $500,000 to an anti-Kemp super PAC. According to Politico, the move represented the first major investment in a 2022 midterm contest from Trump’s political fundraising arm.

Contra

Polling shows Trump-endorsed Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R) leading incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) despite Walker’s campaign being plagued by a series of gaffes, like Walker’s assertion that the existence of apes is evidence that evolution is not real.

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Key Facts

Key Background

Surprising Fact

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