COLUMBUS, Ohio — If the Republican ticket wins this fall, Ohio Senator JD Vance would be the first vice president from Buckeye State.

What You Need To Know

  • Former President Donald Trump chose J.D. Vance as his Vice President

  • Senator Vance has only served two years of his Senate term

  • Ohio has been a majority Republican state the past decade

Ohio Republican JD Vance has been named as Donald Trump’s Vice President pick. Trump made the announcement on the first day of the Republican National Convention.

If their ticket wins this fall, Vance would be the first vice president from Ohio. Originally, one of Trump’s biggest critics, Vance has aligned a majority of his politics with the former president, in his first term.

David Cohen, a political science professor out of the University of Akron, said that there are few things to expect from this decision. 

If the Republican ticket wins this fall and they do well over the next four years, then it’s likely Vance would be the top Republican Presidential nominee for 2028. Assisting Trump in his second and final term, the next four years would give Vance experience and a chance to raise confidence in him from his party. 

As far as Ohio, Cohen expects Vance to set his focus on casting a wider net. While there could be inter political benefits to Vance being from Ohio, Cohen believes that policies and legislation will target states and communities that Republicans need to win over.

In the past, Ohio was considered a swing state, and would be a main priority for presidents and vice presidents to visit and rally in, but due to it swinging red most of the decade, politicians are not investing as much time and money to campaign in the state. 

“It’s not terribly competitive on the presidential level,” said Cohen. “I’m not sure that because of that, we as a state, we would benefit from any policies targeted at Ohio when in fact, you can target some of those policies, you know, maybe programs, places to invest in, in places that make more of a difference in presidential elections.”

Cohen doesn’t expect Ohioans to lose benefits and said that a lot of the initiatives for jobs and tech, put into place under the Biden administration, will continue if Trump were to win. 

If the Republican ticket wins in November, Vance’s senate seat would be up for grabs next year. Currently, Democrats have the majority in the Senate and Republicans have the majority in the House of Representatives.

This split shows the importance of the Bernie Moreno and Sherrod Brown race, because the winner would either keep the current status quo or give the Senate to the Republicans. A Moreno win could give Trump and Vance a majority across the board.