The ex-president’s support dragged author from the back of the primary field – but other outlandish candidates went down in flames
When a jubilant JD Vance claimed victory as the newly elected US Senator for Ohio, he told a relieved state Republican party that he was “overwhelmed with gratitude”.
The bestselling author of Hillbilly Elegy, an account of growing up amidst drug addiction and poverty, thanked his family, his campaign team and his fellow Republican candidates in the midwestern state. But all of that gratitude did not extend to a mention of the one person Vance arguably owes most to, Donald Trump.