Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that Ohio’s voters played a pivotal role in delivering Republicans the White House and a majority in the U.S. Senate in November.
Vance described convincing President Donald Trump that Bernie Moreno could defeat Sherrod Brown in last year’s U.S. Senate election. He said Brown, a Democrat who’s considering attempting a political comeback in next year’s midterm elections, was a tough candidate.
“I think we showed him and the Ohio GOP [that] while we had a reputation for a long time as a purple state or even a blue state,” Vance said, “thanks to the work of a lot of people, many of whom are in this room, Ohio is now solidly red, and it’s going to stay that way for a long time.”
Vance, 40, was the headliner at a fundraiser for the Ohio Republican Party. Speaking for 35 minutes, he regaled the audience with a few stories from Washington, D.C., including describing how he broke the national championship trophy during a ceremony with Ohio State University’s football team.
“The most embarrassing moment of my damn life,” Vance said.
Vance also used the speech to tout Trump’s agenda – continuing his role as a top spokesman for the Trump administration – including declaring the recent U.S. intervention in Iran as a success even as events unfold. Vance said his chief of staff encouraged him to considering canceling his trip to Ohio in light of world events.
“I’ve had more on-the-job training than just about any other person in history having the job for all of about five months,” Vance said.
About 1,100 people attended the fundraiser, according to organizers. It was held in Northwest Ohio, about an hour and a half from the state capital, at Vance’s request. Around 40 people protested outside. The event was Vance’s second public appearance in Ohio since he became vice president. He went to East Palestine in February as part of an official visit in which he commemorated the second anniversary of the train derailment there.
The event came about after state party leaders requested that Vance speak for the state GOP’s annual summer dinner. Tickets started at $75 per person, an unusually low number for an event featuring such a high-ranking official. A poster board listing sponsors included just one major corporation: General Dynamics, which operates a tank manufacturing plant in the area.
Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman, Lima’s state representative, took the night off from late-stage state budget negotiations to address the audience as the event kicked off.
Ohio Senate President Rob McColley did too. But one prominent state Republican, Gov. Mike DeWine, didn’t attend. “I’m very focused on the budget,” he said earlier this week, before later adding: “It’s always good to have the vice president back home.”
The appearance by Vance comes at a fraught moment, in light of the developments in Iran. Security wasn’t conspicuously high at the event, although city officials blocked off streets for several square blocks around the Veterans Memorial and Civic Center, where the event was held.
DeWine – without specifying who – told reporters earlier this week that state public safety officials were on higher alert when it comes to protecting high-profile people in light of the U.S. action over the weekend.
A political homecoming
Vance, who splits time between Cincinnati and Washington, D.C., is the first Ohioan to serve as vice president in almost exactly 100 years, and Tuesday’s speech marked the first time Vance has held an explicitly political event here since he became vice president.
Tony Schroeder, the Republican Party chair of nearby Putnam County, said the event came together around 10 days ago. Shroeder said holding the event in Northwest Ohio, the most reliably Republican area of the state, was a good way for Vance to keep in touch with supporters at home.
“This is really where his base is. I can say from people I’ve talked to that I can’t think of anybody else that we ought to be running for president in 2028. He’s the obvious choice,” Schroeder said.
Some people standing in line outside the event before it started described meeting Vance during his U.S. Senate run in 2022 and said they hoped he will run for president in 2028.
Lou Markowitz, who owns a rental property company in town, said he chatted with Vance for a while at an event in Lima during the Senate campaign and came away impressed with his intelligence.
“I talked with him for a while, and just liked the way that he handled himself. At the time, I said you know, this guy’s got a lot of potential.”
Markowitz said he likes Vance, but wonders about his experience as an executive. “That’s the only question mark I have about him, but I like the way the guy carries himself.”
Others said they didn’t know who Vance was until Trump picked him last July to be his running mate.
Cindee Morris, from nearby Shawnee Township, said she watched Vance’s autobiographical Netflix movie, “Hillbilly Elegy,” and read the book it was based on after he joined Trump’s ticket.
“I like listening to him. I like his ideas. I think he’s learning from President Trump to elevate him, and I just think he’ll power off on that.”
Ohio Republicans work the crowd
The event attracted a healthy sampling of Ohio Republican politicians, including several candidates for office. That included state Rep. Josh Williams and former state Rep. Derek Merrin, who both announced campaigns for the GOP nomination to challenge Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in next year’s primary election.
Also milling in the audience were several Ohio Supreme Court candidates, including Justice Pat Fischer, who jumped into a crowded GOP primary to challenge Democratic Justice Jennifer Brunner next year.
Cory Bowman, Vance’s half-brother who’s waging a long-shot campaign as a Republican for mayor of Cincinnati, also was spotted in the crowd.
Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the Tuesday fundraiser was Vance’s first public appearance in Ohio since becoming vice president.
