STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
J.D. Vance comes from southern Ohio, and he first rose to prominence with "Hillbilly Elegy," a book about his Appalachian region, which stretches across the Ohio River into eastern Kentucky and beyond. He talked with me about it back in 2016.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
INSKEEP: Do you think that the elites of either party actually do not care very much about the people you grew up around?
J D VANCE: I don't think that at all, actually. I think that the elites of both parties do care about the people I grew up around. I also think that they're very disconnected. And so they don't appreciate one, the scale of the problem. Two, they don't appreciate how people really think or feel.
INSKEEP: Vance always said he understood Trump voters, though he used to criticize Trump. Sarah Donaldson of Ohio Public Media reports on how people in Vance's home state view his nomination now.
SARAH DONALDSON, BYLINE: The freshman U.S. senator was born and raised in Middletown, a city sandwiched between Dayton and Cincinnati in southwest Ohio. Although Vance's name had been on the VP pick shortlist, the news still came as a surprise to some of its residents, including Republican voter Janet Hydeman.
JANET HYDEMAN: Well, I was astonished. I thought he was kind of young. But he has a lot of good things going for him, I think. I need to go back and read his book again.
DONALDSON: She says she's excited about Vance. But after the attempt to assassinate former President Trump over the weekend...
HYDEMAN: We also have to remember that, in many, many ways, as they're saying, we need to tone it down.
DONALDSON: Lakeisha Thomas works with low-income Middletown residents. She says she's disappointed with the pick.
LAKEISHA THOMAS: Oh, my God. It is very surprising considering that J.D. Vance hasn't did anything for our community here in Middletown.
DONALDSON: For state Republicans and business leaders, though, there was a lot to celebrate - in part, the renewed relevance for Ohio on the national stage. Governor Mike DeWine said Vance brings, quote, "new generational perspective" to the ticket. State Attorney General Dave Yost called him, quote, "the perfect pick." And a, quote, "dynamic, visionary leader" is how Bernie Moreno - currently challenging Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown - described Vance.
STEVE STIVERS: It's going to certainly put a lot of attention on Ohio and a lot of focus in the future on Ohio.
DONALDSON: That's Ohio Chamber of Commerce president Steve Stivers, a former member of Congress himself. He says he feels like Ohio has a seat at the table again when it comes to the White House.
STIVERS: Obviously, that makes Senator Vance a rising star in the party, win or lose.
DONALDSON: In 2022, Trump's endorsement of Vance - now 39 - enabled him to emerge from a crowded primary field to win his U.S. Senate seat. State Senator Matt Dolan was one of several to challenge Vance then. Dolan, more Trump-averse than most Republicans, says he believes Vance is a, quote, "smart young man" with the state's interests at heart.
MATT DOLAN: If Ohio is an attractive place to site businesses, then you will see businesses coming back from Mexico, coming back from China, which is what the Trump-Vance agenda wants to do.
DONALDSON: If Trump and Vance win in November, Governor DeWine will pick who fills Vance's position in the U.S. Senate through the 2026 election.
For NPR News, I'm Sarah Donaldson in Columbus. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.