CINCINATI – JD Vance, the best-selling author whose Elegy of the Hills on Appalachian life highlights a part of the country that feels abandoned, won the Ohio Senate primary on Tuesday after late approval by Donald J. Trump helped him grow past his rivals in a crowded field.
Presenting himself as a fighter against the national elite, Mr Vance is running as a Trump-style fighter and outsider who opposes threats of drugs, Democrats and illegal immigration, while completely withdrawing from his previous criticism of the former president.
The race, which grossed nearly $ 80 million in television commercials, was one of the most anticipated for the 2022 primary season because of its potential to provide an early signal of the Republican Party’s direction.
The result strongly confirmed Mr Trump’s continued grip on his party’s base. But a fuller assessment of Mr Trump’s influence will come in a series of primary elections over the next four weeks – in West Virginia, North Carolina, Idaho, Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Mr Vance lagged behind most of the polls behind Josh Mandel, a former Ohio treasurer who also aggressively pursued Mr Trump’s support, while the former president’s approval in mid-April helped Mr Vance move forward. A third candidate, U.S. Sen. Matt Dolan, is running as a more traditional Republican, sometimes mocking his rivals for their relentless focus on the former president instead of on questions and Ohio voters.
Cheers rose to Mr. Vance’s electoral party in Cincinnati when the Associated Press announced the race shortly after 9:30 p.m.
“People caught between the corrupt political class of the left and the right need a voice,” Mr Vance said in his victory speech. “They need a representative. And that will be me. “
Mr Vance is an unlikely supporter of the Trump mantle, calling the former president “condemning” and even “cultural heroin” in 2016. But he had completely changed his tune by 2022, and Mr Trump called to congratulate him on his victory on Tuesday night, according to an informed source.
With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Vance was the leader in most of the state. But the results also caught some of the tensions and demographic trade-offs of the Republican Party, which has been pulled in different directions, as Mr Dolan was strongest in the voter-rich cities of Cleveland and Columbus.
Trump-style Republicans did not win Tuesday’s other top race. Ohio Gov. Mike Dewain, a more traditional Republican who has served in the state for more than 40 years, finished well ahead of his many primary rivals after a strong challenge from the right wing never gained strength despite some conservative reactions to Mr. Duane early and definitive response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Mike DeWain and his wife, Fran DeWain, congratulate their daughter, Anna Bolton, and grandson, Calvin, after a vote in Cedarville, Ohio, on Tuesday. Credit … Paul Vernon / Associated Press
Mr Dewain had almost twice as many votes as his closest rival, Jim Renachi, a former member of the House. In the fall, he will fight Nan Weiley, the former mayor of Dayton, who won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, becoming the first woman in Ohio’s history to be nominated by a major party for governor.
In the Senate race, Mr. Vance will now face Representative Tim Ryan, a 48-year-old Youngstown Democrat who has positioned himself as a champion of blue-collar values and disagreed with some of the more progressive positions. his party.
If Mr. Vance wins in the fall, the 37-year-old Yale law graduate and investor will become the second youngest member of the Senate, the youngest Republican in the House and a rare freshman to arrive in Washington with a national profile.
His book was best-selling not only by conservatives but also by liberals, who used it as a deciphering key after the 2016 election to understand Mr. Trump’s appeal in rural areas.
Mr. Vance’s metamorphosis from outspoken Republican Never Trump in 2016 to full-fledged Warrior Make America Great Again in 2022 reflects the ideological journey of much of the party in recent years. Republicans have come closer to the former president’s strong political stance on issues such as trade and immigration, as well as his militant stance with Democrats and on cultural issues that divide the two parties. For some Republican voters, the primary election was fueled by fears that traditional family values and white American culture had been attacked by far-left Democrats, Republicans and elites.
From the beginning, Mr. Vance had a crucial financial benefactor: his former boss, Peter Thiel, a Silicon Valley investor who bet $ 10 million on Mr. Vance before he officially joined the competition, and who added millions more in the final stages. to trumpet in support of Mr. Trump in recent weeks.
The Senate primary election was unusual in that it took place in two places at once. In Ohio, there was the typical fierce competition for votes in town halls, debates, and television commercials. In Florida, there was a battle for Mr Trump’s approval in Mar-a-Lago, the former president’s private club, with public loyalty, surrogate lobbying and shuttle diplomacy. In one episode last year, a number of Ohio candidates fought for Mr Trump’s support in front of each other at an impromptu meeting in Mar-a-Lago.
In a verbal pastime that seemed almost appropriate for how the candidates ran, Mr. Trump accidentally linked the names of two rivals over the weekend. “We supported JP, didn’t we?” Mr Trump said at a rally in Nebraska. “JD Mandel.”
Mr Trump’s approval has sparked madness among Ohio Republicans, who have called into question Mr Vance’s Republican powers, with rivals distributing leaflets online and accusing him of being a covert Democrat at a rally and resurrecting his previous comments against Mr n Trump.
Senate nominee Josh Mandel, in the center, with supporters, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, left, in Columbus, Ohio, last week. Credit … Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch, through the Associated Press
Mr. Mandel was the favorite for most of the race, presenting himself as a true pro-Trump candidate (“Pro-God. Pro-Guns. Pro-Trump” was the motto of his television commercials). But that has become an almost impossible argument for prosecution in recent weeks after Mr Trump elected Mr Vance.
“If the whole problem with the campaign is who is most like Trump, expect him to work against you when you don’t get approval,” said Rex Alsace, an Ohio-based Republican strategist.
At a restaurant on the outskirts of Cleveland Beach on Tuesday, more than a dozen Mandel supporters and campaign volunteers expressed optimism early in the evening, expressing confidence. But it wasn’t long before Mr Mandel took to the podium to deliver the news.
Mr Mandel told the audience that he had called Mr Vance “to congratulate him on his tough victory” and would do everything he could to help him be elected. “The stakes are too high for this country not to support the nominee,” Mr Mandel said to loud applause in the hall.
In addition to Mr. Vance, Mr. Dolan, and Mr. Mandel, the crowded race included a single candidate, Jane Timken, a former Ohio Republican chairman who was backed by retired incumbent Senator Rob Portman and Mike Gibbons. , a businessman who poured millions of his own money into the race and at one point climbed to the top of the polls.
Mr Dolan worked for most of the race far behind the leaders of the polls, avoiding direct attacks from his rivals. But he is taking advantage of his own fortune to fund more than $ 11 million in television commercials as he paves the way for the rest of the Trump-focused sphere, refusing to reinforce the lie that the 2020 election is rigged. In a debate, Mr Dolan was the only candidate to raise his hand to say that the former president should stop talking about the 2020 elections.
U.S. Sen. Matt Dolan welcomed supporters to the opening of a library in Bay Village, Ohio, last week. Credit … Dustin Franz for the New York Times
The race was nasty and protracted, reflecting nothing more than the intensity of an almost physical confrontation between Mr. Gibbons and Mr. Mandel during a March debate where they bumped into each other while verbally threatening each other.
Mr. Vance scolded both of them. “Sit down. Come on,” he said. “That’s ridiculous.”
Much of the competition was made up of huge sums spent on television – nearly $ 80 million, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact, most of which came from outside groups and donors outside the state. The Conservative Growth Club has spent more than $ 12 million on television commercials aimed at strengthening Mr Mandel or overthrowing his rivals.
Mr. Thiel, a Silicon Valley investor, set up a pro-Vance super PAC with $ 10 million in early 2021 – months before Mr. Vance even entered the race. Mr. Vance is one of Teale’s two former employees – the other is the Blake Masters in Arizona – running for the Senate with the huge financial support of Mr. Teale. Mr. Thiel served as a key liaison between Mr. Vance and Mr. Trump, attending an introductory meeting between them in early 2021.
Ohio’s policies have changed dramatically in the Trump era. Once the most important presidential state, Ohio broke with Mr. Trump by 8 percentage points in both 2016 and 2020, ending a half-century series of states supporting the national winner. Republicans have sharply increased their margins among white working-class and rural voters, offsetting the party’s losses in suburban states around cities like Columbus and Cleveland.
Representative Tim Ryan, right, with Michael C. Regan of the Youngstown Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio, where …
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