Who is J.D. Vance?
In his first campaign blunder in quite some time former president Donald Trump picked one of the worst possible choices for his running mate, Jr Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. While Vance does have some name recognition he is a choice that pretty much only appeals to his base (which while not actively harmful doesn’t really help him). So who is J.D. Vance?
Vance first came to prominence in 2016 with his book “Hillbilly Elegy” a memoir about Vance's upbringing in Middletown Ohio. The book became a bestseller pretty quickly and very much appealed to conservatives as it was probably the first time a story about poverty had been told from a right wing perspective in quite some time. Vance describes growing up in poverty and the addiction that comes as a result. Uniquely he blames “hillbilly culture” and poor work ethic for a lot of the economic issues around him.
Vance of course says a lot about his work ethic which is what he views as allowing him to escape poverty. After high school Vance enlisted in the US Marine Corps as a military journalist, serving in the Iraq War where he rose to the rank of corporal. After serving, Vance attended college at Ohio State University where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy. Vance then went on to Yale Law School graduating with a JD degree in 2013. It was during his Yale years that he began to work on “Hillbilly Elegy”.
Vance went on to work in the tech sector of San Francisco as a venture capitalist. During these years Vance became a bit of a celebrity appearing not just on right wing media but also as a CNN contributor where he was actually a bit of a never Trumper, criticizing the president, even going so far as to compare him to Hitler. Vance considered running against Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown but decided against it (likely due to Brown being a pretty tough opponent, being a democrat that wins the votes of many conservatives and republicans). 2022 presented a much better opportunity as incumbent republican senator Rob Portman decided against seeking re-election. So Vance took a big bucket of money from Peter Thiel and entered the race. Defeating Democrat Tim Ryan.
Vance has served as a senator for about a year and a half and is among the least experienced vice-presidential candidates from a major party. For context Vice-President Kamala Harris was criticized for a lack of experience, even though by the time she took office she had served 3x as long in the senate as Vance has and was previously California’s Attorney General for six years.
Vance's voting record is very in line with where MAGA conservatism is at. He received a 100% rating from Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America (a non-profit anti-abortion organization). An 80% voting record from the controversial John Birch Society which supports socially conservative positions.
Recent Senate Activity
In terms of his votes on substantial legislation,
Vance voted against the following
HR3746: Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (this was a bill to increase the debt limit)
On the Nomination PN1113: Kurt Campbell, of the District of Columbia, to be Deputy Secretary of State (Confirmed on February 6, 2024)
On the Nomination PN1020: John A. Kazen, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas (Confirmed on January 9, 2024)
HR 2670: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024
On the Nomination PN649: Monica M. Bertagnolli, of Massachusetts, to be Director of the National Institutes of Health (Confirmed on November 7, 2023)
On the Nomination PN677: Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr., in the Air Force, to be General (He was confirmed on September 20, 2023)
On the Nomination PN382: Xochitl Torres Small, of New Mexico, to be Deputy Secretary of Agriculture (Confirmed on July 11, 2023)
On the Nomination PN29: Eric M. Garcetti, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of India (Confirmed on March 15, 2023)
Vance voted yes on the following
On the Nomination PN1257: Lisa W. Wang, of the District of Columbia, to be a Judge of the United States Court of International Trade (Vance was one of only 4 Republicans who voted yes and she was confirmed on February 1, 2024)
S316: A bill to repeal the authorizations for use of military force against Iraq. (he was also a cosponsor)
On the Nomination PN645: Philip Nathan Jefferson, of North Carolina, to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for a term of four years (Confirmed on September 6, 2023)
On the Nomination PN455: Darrel James Papillion, of Louisiana, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana (Confirmed on May 30, 2023)
Vance has introduced the following bills (This is not a complete list just a few of the more notable bills, many are still working their way through the senate)
S.4516 — A bill to ensure equal protection of the law, to prevent racism in the Federal Government, and for other purposes. (the test of this bill has not been made completely available)
S4333 Domenic and Ed’s Law: Which aims to remove “parent borrower liability if a student on whose behalf a parent has received certain student loans becomes disabled.”
S.4232: Fixing Administrations Unethical Corrupt Influence Act: This bill would “ prohibit former employees of covered health agencies from serving on the board of entities involved in development and research of a drug, biological product, or device and from profiting from a drug, biological product, or device, and for other purposes.”
S. 4045: East Palestine Health Impact Monitoring Act of 2024 (Introduced in the wake of the East Palestine Train Derailment)
In terms of political positions Vance is a big culture warrior. He has identified as pro-life and favors a federal abortion ban as well as opposing exceptions for incest and rape. He introduced the Protect Children’s Innocence Act which would make gender affirming care (which the bill considers to include surgery and medication given “for the purpose of changing the body of an individual to correspond to a sex that differs from the individual’s biological sex) a felony. Vance has also made just a lot of whacko comments about families, pretty much pushing for the nuclear family and blaming a shocking amount of issues on what he calls “the childless left”.
Notably Vance is the first Republican Vice-Presidential nominee to present foreign policy views outside of neo-conservatism (at least since the 1970s). Vance has been critical of both NATO (he agreed with Trump’s comments that many NATO allies do not pay their fair share) and America’s policy in regards to the War in Ukraine he has advocated for a diplomatic solution and a ceasing of US support to Ukraine.
Unsurprisingly Senator Vance has been a strong supporter of Israel . He received around $167,000 dollars from AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups. Vance co-sponsored S Res 417 A resolution standing with Israel against terrorism.” He also introduced S4295: Encampments or Endowments Act which states “no institution of higher education shall be eligible to receive funds under this Act (including funds for Federal student assistance under title IV) or participate in programs under title IV if the Secretary determines that the institution of higher education has failed to disestablish any permanent encampment on the institution’s campus”. Basically this would strip state universities of their federal funding if they allowed their students to protest the ongoing genocide in Israel. Senator Vance has co-sponsored S. 3168: Israel Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2023 (this bill will give over four billion dollars to Israel) as well as S.Res. 682: A resolution condemning the decision by the Biden Administration to halt the shipment of United States made ammunition and weapons to the State of Israel.
At the end of the day Vance is an uninspired choice. He doesn’t bring the connections or experience of somebody like Marco Rubio or Tim Scott, he can’t bring the moderate aesthetic of Doug Burgham, he doesn’t electrify the base like Vivek Rammaswammy does. All Vance is able to provide to Trump is loyalty and that’s probably all he needs.
