J.D. Vance, author of “Hillbilly Elegy” is expected to enter the Ohio Republican primary for the state’s open Senate seat, according to multiple reports.
Vance, whose book was seen in 2016 as helping explain Donald Trump’s appeal to struggling white, working-class voters, plans a “special announcement” and rally at the steel fabricator Middletown Tube Works in his Ohio hometown on Thursday. ABC News reported.
Vance, a venture capitalist who became a popular TV political commentator, was dubbed “the Trump whisperer” for his ability to explain the Republican’s rise to the presidency. His book became a Ron Howard-directed movie.
Vance will join a crowded field in the primary that already includes Josh Mandel, the former state treasurer; Jane Timken, the former chair of the Ohio Republican party; and businessmen Bernie Moreno and Mike Gibbons.