Trump helps ‘Hillbilly’ author clinch nomination
JD VANCE, the author whose memoir of childhood poverty, Hillbilly Elegy, became a best-seller, has won the Republican nomination for a fiercely contested Ohio Senate seat, signalling the party’s enduring loyalty to Donald Trump.
Mr Vance’s victory, following an endorsement from the former president that helped clear a crowded field, also marks an extraordinary transformation for the 37-year-old from a fierce Trump critic to one of his most loyal acolytes.
The Republican primary was an early test of Mr Trump’s sway over the party as he considers mounting another presidential bid in 2024.
Mr Trump’s son, Donald Jr, said the result was proof that the Make America Great Again movement “is alive and well”. He added: “The GOP (Grand Old Party) best take notice and finally understand where the people are.”
The former president weighed into the Ohio race late on, taking a risk by backing Mr Vance in mid-april amid a field of four major candidates.
The writer and venture capitalist has called for “a de-woke-ification” of America and will face moderate Democrat Tim Ryan, whose win in Tuesday night’s Democratic senate primary had been expected. Hillbilly Elegy charts his path from a poverty-stricken childhood in an Ohio steel town to a place at Yale.
In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, Mr Vance accused Mr Trump of “leading the white working class to a very dark place”. But in the years since his views have radically shifted.
Some attributed the change to his work with Peter Thiel, the billionaire founder of Paypal and a rare prominent conservative in Silicon Valley. Mr Vance’s wife, Usha Chilukuri previously worked as a clerk for Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump pick for the Supreme Court.
“I have absolutely got to thank the 45th president of the United States, Donald J Trump,” Mr Vance said in a victory speech in Cincinnati, in which he promised to continue Mr Trump’s policies.
The value of Mr Trump’s endorsements will face further scrutiny, in particular in Georgia and Pennsylvania. The Republicans are expected to win the Ohio Senate seat after the retirement of the incumbent.