The months-long “Apprentice”-like fight for former President Donald Trump’s endorsement ended Friday afternoon when he picked venture capitalist and “Hillbilly Elegy” author J.D. Vance.
“It is time for the entire MAGA movement, the greatest in the history of our Country, to unite behind J.D.’s campaign because, unlike so many other pretenders and wannabes, he will put America First,” Trump wrote in a statement endorsing Vance’s bid. The former president will visit Delaware County for a rally on April 23.
Trump acknowledged it wasn’t an easy choice, especially because Vance opposed Trump’s presidential bid in 2016. “I can’t stomach Trump,” Vance said at the time. ” I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place.” Vance has since said he was wrong.
“Like some others, J.D. Vance may have said some not-so-great things about me in the past, but he gets it now, and I have seen that in spades,” Trump wrote. “He is our best chance for victory in what could be a very tough race.”
J.D. Vance calls Donald Trump best president in his lifetime
On Friday, Vance praised Trump as the best president of his lifetime “for the simple reason that he never bent to the mob and fought consistently for hardworking Americans.”
News of Trump’s decision leaked out Thursday, resulting in a public push to endorse anyone but Vance. County GOP leaders in Ohio sent a two-page letter to Trump, asking him to refrain from endorsing Vance or anyone else in the race.
Ultimately, Trump had already picked his man.
The endorsement could sway undecided voters in the May 3 primary and it’s a blow to Vance’s competitors who have fashioned themselves in Trump’s image from the beginning of the race. The sole exception was state Sen. Matt Dolan who didn’t seek Trump’s endorsement.
Former Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel and Ohio Republican Party leader Jane Timken both said they look forward to earning Trump’s endorsement in November. Timken called the decision “disappointing.”
“Ohio voters want someone who has fought and delivered for the America First movement – and won’t support an elitist who insulted their intelligence and then pretended to be MAGA when it suited his political ambitions,” Timken said.
New poll shows a tight race
A new poll posted by the Trafalgar Group showed nearly 55% of Republican voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate endorsed by Trump.
Ohio Senate race:What to know about JD Vance, venture capitalist running for office
The Trafalgar survey shows it’s a tight race between Mandel with 28% and Vance with 22.6%. Cleveland businessman Mike Gibbons is third with 14.3%, Dolan is fourth with 11.6% and Timken polled at 7.5%, the poll shows.
The poll indicated that 13.1% of voters are undecided about their pick in the Senate primary. The poll of likely GOP primary voters was conducted on April 13 and 14 and has a margin of error of 3%.
Candidates seeking to replace the retiring U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, have poured millions into their campaigns. Five of them collectively spent nearly $30 million of their own money on campaigning last year, an unprecedented amount of self-funding for a primary contest.
Whoever wins will face either Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan or attorney Morgan Harper in November.
“With one of the nastiest and most expensive Senate races in the country already at fever pitch this week, Trump’s endorsement will only pour gasoline on this intraparty brawl and make it even harder for Republicans to coalesce around whatever out-of-touch millionaire hobbles out of this chaotic primary,” Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Michael Beyer said in a statement.
Early voting is already underway for the May 3 primary.
Haley BeMiller contributed to this report.
Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.