Former President Donald Trump endorsed author J.D. Vance ahead of the Ohio Senate Republican primary, quashing opponents‘ efforts to paint him as an anti-Trump candidate.
Trump declared Vance to be the “most qualified” candidate to win in November, saying in a Friday evening statement that Vance’s past criticism of him was water under the bridge.
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“Like some others, J.D. Vance may have said some not so great things about me in the past, but he gets it now, and I have seen that in spades,” he said. “He is our best chance for victory in what could be a very tough race.”
Trump endorses JD VANCE in the Ohio GOP Senate primary. A big boost for the author who has struggled to break through to the top tier. Primary is in three weeks. pic.twitter.com/NdnqcBIS9Z
— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) April 15, 2022
After Trump’s plan to endorse Vance leaked Thursday, nearly three dozen members of the Ohio GOP released a letter asking Trump to reconsider.
“While we were working hard in Ohio to support you and Make America Great Again, JD Vance was actively working against your candidacy,” the letter says. “He referred to your supporters as ‘racists’ and proudly voted for Evan McMullin in 2016.”
A Trafalgar poll of more than 1,000 likely Republican primary voters this week showed Vance in second place with over 22% support and a margin of error of 3 percentage points. Josh Mandel still led the poll with 28% support, and Mike Gibbons was in third with 14.3%.
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Nearly 55% of respondents said a Trump endorsement would make them more likely to vote for a candidate, so Vance could gain more ground ahead of the May 3 primary.
Vance has made illegal immigration one of the primary concerns of his campaign, forging common ground with Trump. Mandel and Gibbons both openly courted Trump’s seal of approval and tried to smear Vance as anti-Trump to an electorate that voted heavily in favor of the former president in both elections.
