VP Candidate Vance Could Provide Trump With Crucial 'Rust Belt' Boost

Former President Donald Trump's announcement on 15 July that freshman US Senator from Ohio JD Vance would be his vice presidential running mate on the Republican ticket in November could prove crucial in determining the outcome of the election. Vance, an author-turned-venture capitalist who grew up in poverty in post-industrial Ohio, was at the time of Trump's election in 2016 a vocal critic.

• He called Trump 'reprehensible', but has completed a full 180-degree turn to being one of the former president's most vociferous backers. He won Ohio's US Senate seat vacated by Republican Rob Portman in 2022 thanks to the backing of Trump and the 'MAGA movement'.
• While Ohio has shifted over the past 20 years from being a swing state to more firmly in the Republican camp, Vance's background in a post-industrial town in 'rust belt' Ohio could serve to bolster the Trump campaign in several crucial states.
• Facing somewhat similar economic and demographic headwinds as Ohio, the states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania are likely to prove key to the outcome of the presidential election. The three voted for Trump in 2016, but then Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.
• During his time before entering politics, Vance was a sought-after speaker on the views of America's white working class voters. Since entering the Senate he has become a reliable conservative voter, as well as being one of the most vocal opponents of sending more financial and military support to Ukraine.