This news agency had arranged for Vance to show up early so I could interview him before the program and Journal-News photographer Greg Lynch could shoot photos and video as Vance touched on a wide range of topics, including newly-elected President Donald Trump, who defeated Hillary Clinton, why he wrote a book and the importance of a college education.
At the time, Vance was best known as the author of “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.” In 2020, the book was turned into a movie directed by Ron Howard with scenes filmed in Middletown.
He also was not fond of President Trump and spoke against his policies.
Miami Valley Gaming keeps its lights on by taking wagers from the public, whether that’s the slot machines, live and simulcast horse racing and now sports betting. No one could have set the odds for what has happened to Vance since that night when he was the keynote speaker.
Vance was then 32 years old then and without a gray hair on his head and no facial hair. Politics and Father Time have aged him.
In 2021, Vance, a political newcomer, announced during a rally at Middletown Tube Works that he was running for U.S. Senate. It was fitting the announcement was made in Middletown in front of about 450 people because “this town made me who I am,” said Vance, a 2003 Middletown High School, Ohio State University and Yale Law School graduate. “Middletown has always been good to me.”
Only those close to Vance could have believed he had a chance to defeat Democrat U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan in the race to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman.
But in November 2022, Vance defeated Ryan when he received 53% of the votes from the more than 4 million Ohioans who voted in the race.
Then after two years as a senator, in a surprise move, Trump announced in July 2024 Vance was his running mate.
Suddenly, the national media turned its attention to Middletown, where Vance’s dysfunctional family had moved when he was a young boy.
The views of Vance in his hometown vary greatly and some are based on his unflattering description of Middletown in his book. The easiest way to start an argument in town is to mention JD Vance in a crowd of people, and walk away.
Then Vance made his first solo appearance as a vice president candidate at a rally in the MHS auditorium. This came nine days after Trump was shot at an outdoor rally in Pennsylvania.
Security was tight that day, and the energy inside the auditorium was electric as the city gathered to celebrate its hometown hero.
On Nov. 5, I was there when Vance voted at St. Anthony of Padua Church on Victory Parkway. not far from his Cincinnati home.
He arrived at 9 a.m. in a motorcade led by two Cincinnati police cruisers and four U.S. Secret Service vehicles that weaved through a packed parking lot. An ambulance and several police officers on motorcycles were parked nearby.
After he voted with his wife, Usha, Vance addressed the media, which included numerous national outlets that followed his entire campaign.
Throughout the short press conference, Secret Service agents scanned the crowd and waited nervously for Vance to climb into his vehicle.
As Vance started walking away, he noticed two of his three children, his two sons, standing in the parking lot that was about four feet higher than where Vance was standing.
Boys will be boys and these boys wanted to jump off the ledge. Vance caught both of them and they were whisked away.
Later that night, Trump and Vance were overwhelming elected as the 47th president and the 50th vice president, respectfully, of the United States.
The Trump-Vance ticket, considered the greatest long shot eight years ago, had won the race.
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