J.D. Vance is turning to illegal immigration to rescue his uneven Ohio Senate campaign and come from behind to win the Republican nomination in this key red state primary.

Vance has been stuck in the middle of the pack in a crowded field of Republican contenders, although recent polling commissioned for his super PAC showed the 37-year-old conservative populist in a three-way tie for first. To vault ahead of the competition in the final weeks before the May 3 primary, Vance is streamlining his pitch to GOP voters and focusing almost exclusively on illegal immigration at the Southern border, with a biographical touch.