In the closing months of a crowded Republican primary for a US Senate seat in Ohio, JD Vance found himself stuck in the middle of the pack.
The pollster for a supportive super PAC warned that Vance’s campaign was in “precipitous decline,” arguing that he had failed to convince Republican voters of his conservative bona fides and loyalty to Donald Trump.
“Vance needs a course correction ASAP,” the pollster wrote in a February 2022 memo.
It arrived a month later. With the five main primary contenders meeting onstage for the umpteenth time, the two perceived front-runners nearly came to blows. As they stood nose to nose, one readied to fight while the other uttered a sexist expletive. Vance, seated at the edge of the stage, pounced.
“Think about what you just saw. This guy wants to be a US senator and he’s up here, ‘Hold me back. Hold me back,’” Vance said to loud applause. “What a joke. Answer the question. Stop playing around.”
It was a breakthrough moment for Vance, one that led to a second look from GOP voters in his state and from Trump. Clips of the exchange and other debate moments impressed Trump, sources told CNN, and played a role in Vance securing a race-defining endorsement from the former president.
On Tuesday, that ability will be tested once again. Vance, now the Republican nominee for vice president, will join his Democratic counterpart, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for the first time on a debate stage in New York.
Vance, at just 40 years old and two years into his political career, is still a largely unproven commodity. Also unknown is whether he can successfully pick apart the Democratic ticket while improving — or at least not further jeopardizing — his likability among voters.