Gaelen Morse | Reuters Republican JD Vance defeated Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan in Ohio’s US Senate race, keeping the seat red and boosting the party’s bid to wrest control of the chamber, NBC News reported. A Vance victory would increase the GOP’s chances of regaining control of the Senate, which is currently split 50-50 by party. Vance and Ryan were running for the seat left vacant by the retirement of two-term Republican Sen. Rob Portman. Ohio has become more reliably Republican in recent elections, voting for former President Donald Trump in both 2016 and 2020. Both Vance and Ryan positioned themselves as populists seeking to appeal to working-class Americans. Ryan throughout the campaign sought to distance himself from President Joe Biden by voicing his opposition to the student loan forgiveness program and the party’s stance on immigration. He also dismissed allegations that he was in the pockets of Democratic leaders, noting that he campaigned against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for minority leader in 2016. Ryan told Vance in a debate that he could “move back to San Francisco” if he wanted to talk to Pelosi. In the final weeks of the campaign, Ryan received little support from Democrats nationally. Vance, who has trailed the Democrat in fundraising, has received nearly $30 million in support from the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC associated with Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Vance is an entrepreneur and partner of billionaire Peter Thiel. Thiel, his old boss, later helped back Vance’s Ohio-based venture capital firm Narya Capital and was a major donor to the campaign early on. Ryan tried to portray Vance as a bigot who cares more about San Francisco and Washington, DC, than his hometown. Vance gained national recognition in 2016 with his memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” which details the poverty and addiction of whites in Appalachia. Originally part of the “Never Trump” movement, it later embraced the former president as well as many far-right positions. Trump endorsed him early in his campaign, boosting his bid for the nomination. A month after Election Day, the former president is expressing his satisfaction with his support for Vance, telling a rally for the candidate that “JD is kissing the a– he wants my support so badly.”
