Former President Donald Trump's expected endorsement of Hillbilly Elegy author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance could be a game-changer in the Ohio Republican Senate primary.
Vance is polling well enough to potentially emerge from the crowded field with the nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R), but he's no sure bet and has generally underperformed. That makes this a departure from the frequent Trump strategy of endorsing the frontrunner, then taking credit when they win.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The endorsement could also be a vindication of Vance's strategy of competing with former state Treasurer Josh Mandel's lower-brow appeal to the GOP base, picking up Trump's blessing — and maybe some Republican votes — at the expense of erstwhile admirers. This includes Vance's reappraisal of Trump himself.
Coming on the heels of Trump's endorsement of Mehmet Oz in the Pennsylvania Republican senate primary, it could also suggest a broader strategic shift by the former president, even if the the MAGA right is less enamored of Oz. Trump may be gambling that if these endorsements of candidates who aren't guaranteed victory actually pulls them across the finish line, it will increase the number of Republican senators genuinely beholden to him. If Trump intends to return to the White House, that could come in handy when it comes to passing legislation, beating back impeachments, maybe even ousting Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.).
But the opposite is also true: These endorsements risk devaluing the power of Trump's blessing ahead of the next election cycle, when his hold on the Republican Party may be tested as never before.
-
Trump’s poll collapse: can he stop the slide?Talking Point President who promised to ease cost-of-living has found that US economic woes can’t be solved ‘via executive fiat’
-
Codeword: December 7, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Sudoku hard: December 7, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Trump’s poll collapse: can he stop the slide?
Talking Point President who promised to ease cost-of-living has found that US economic woes can’t be solved ‘via executive fiat’
-
‘These accounts clearly are designed as a capitalist alternative’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Boat strike footage rattles some lawmakersSpeed Read ‘Disturbing’ footage of the Sept. 2 attack on an alleged drug-trafficking boat also shows the second strike that killed two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage
-
Is a Putin-Modi love-in a worry for the West?Today’s Big Question The Indian leader is walking a ‘tightrope’ between Russia and the United States
-
Trump pardons Texas Democratic congressmanspeed read Rep. Henry Cuellar was charged with accepting foreign bribes tied to Azerbaijan and Mexico
-
‘It is their greed and the pollution from their products that hurt consumers’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
-
Hegseth blames ‘fog of war’ for potential war crimespeed read ‘I did not personally see survivors,’ Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting
