CINCINNATI, Ohio—J.D. Vance, the Hillbilly Elegy author and venture capitalist who secured the endorsement of Donald Trump, defeated Josh Mandel and five other opponents in the contentious Ohio GOP U.S. Senate primary on May 3.
The Ohio GOP U.S. Senate primary represented the first test of Donald Trump’s influence in the 2022 midterm election cycle, and Vance held the lead from the moment initial results were released.
He will now face Rep. Tim Ryan (D–Ohio), who handily defeated Morgan Harper and Traci Johnson in the Democratic party primary.
U.S. Senate candidate JD Vance speaks with prospective voters on the campaign trail in Troy, Ohio, on April 11, 2022. (Gaelen Morse/Getty Images)
“I’ve got to thank the 45th, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump,” Vance said at his victory party at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, 45 minutes south of where he grew up in Middletown. “The fake news wanted to write a story that this campaign would be the death of the America First agenda. Ladies and gentlemen, it ain’t the death of the America First agenda.”
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