WASHINGTON — Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, will be on the ballot in November with former President Donald Trump, after securing the vice presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention Monday, July 15 in Milwaukee.

What You Need To Know

  • Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, secured the Republican vice presidential nomination Monday, July 15

  • Vance is also the author of "Hillbilly Elegy," a bestselling memoir about his Kentucky and Ohio roots

  • Some Kentuckians have taken issue with Vance's description of Appalachia, accusing him of exploiting the stories of its people for his own gain

“He knows what it’s like to live in poverty, forgotten by Washington politicians,” said Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican running for U.S. Senate. “He is dedicated to ensure that no American is ever forgotten again.”

Vance has ties to eastern Kentucky, which he writes about in his bestselling memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy," but some Kentuckians have long taken issue with his description of Appalachia and accuse him of exploiting the stories of people there for his own gain.  

Vance grew up in Ohio and Jackson, a city in Breathitt County, Kentucky.  

State Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-Louisville, who now represents Louisville in the legislature, said she was born into poverty in eastern Kentucky.

She has concerns about Vance as a candidate and about his portrayal of Appalachia, some of which she outlined in an op-ed in The Washington Post nearly three years ago.

“He wrote a book that portrayed eastern Kentucky as this place that is dirty and broken and hopeless,” Armstrong said. “I have a lot of family, a lot of friends, a lot of very dear people to me in eastern Kentucky, and I know that's not what eastern Kentucky is.”

The region has a lot of challenges, but also “so many opportunities,” said Armstrong.

“What I saw was him totally abandon these issues and people that he had purported to speak on behalf of in order to advance his own political career, and quite frankly, that makes me angry," she said. "It also makes me really worried about him as a vice presidential candidate.”

State Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, is at the RNC this week and said he is pleased with Trump’s pick.

“I think he is very familiar with some of the challenges that Appalachia and rural Kentucky faces, so we're hopeful that he'll be a strong voice in the second Trump administration,” Wheeler said. “I don't see how that's exploiting a situation to show that upward movement and improvement is possible for anyone, and I think that's kind of what JD Vance represents in his life story.”

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