JD Vance’s first public appearance in Ohio hometown

OHIO (WJW) — Republican vice presidential candidate U.S. Sen. JD Vance made his first solo appearance on the campaign trail Monday in his hometown of Middletown.

The rally came just a day after President Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race made who the Trump campaign will face the biggest question in the nation.

Vance had been expected to eventually face Vice President Kamala Harris in a debate, but as she is now the favorite to become the Democratic presidential nominee , Vance’s counterpart is unknown.

Despite his presence at the Republican National Convention last week and his best-selling book, “Hillbilly Elegy” – and its Netflix adaptation – Vance is still working to introduce himself to voters.

UD Political Science Prof. Christopher Divine said Vance’s biography is why he’s holding an event at his old high school, not because Ohio is a battleground state.

“I don’t think they’re targeting Ohio specifically with this event, often as strategic,” said Divine. “It’s not always just the geography. It’s also the message, the story it tells. So there have been campaign events in the past that were held in certain places because, you know, they told a story nationally about that candidate.

“With JD Vance, as you could see in his convention speech and even the rally in Michigan this weekend, his biography is a prominent part of this campaign, the process here of introducing him to the American people.”

Vance’s speech touched on a variety of topics, with many hitting close to Middletown, the Rust Belt city of about 51,000 people sitting between Cincinnati and Dayton.

“I think he’s trying to make a connection to working-class voters, or even people living in poverty and struggling economically,” said Divine.

“He’s also making a point about the opioid crisis. That’s something that he ties to immigration. Most fentanyl comes in through the ports of entry, not across the US-Mexico border, but I think you’ll see now in the presidential campaign he’s drawing that connection.”

As he shared at the convention last week, his mother has an opioid use disorder but has been sober for 10 years.

After speaking at Middletown High School at about 1:30 p.m., the senator heads north to Dayton International Airport from which he’ll fly to the battleground state of Virginia to appear at a rally at Radford University Monday evening.

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