JD Vance eyes shift in Republican Party

J.D. Vance sees shift in Republican Party

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Andrew Stanton

By Andrew Stanton

Reporter

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Former President Donald Trump's vice-presidential pick Senator JD Vance sees a shift in the Republican Party, he previously told Newsweek.

As Republicans make a push to win union voters, many of whom have historically leaned Democratic, Vance has told Newsweek that there have been changes in the GOP that could bring those voters into the party's fold.

"Demographically, the Republicans are obviously becoming more of a working-class party, people who work in the trades, people who work in factories were maybe much more Democratic 40 years ago than they are today," Vance said.

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"So, it's not surprising that as the people who support Republicans are themselves members of, or at least adjacent to, organized labor that you're seeing more and more labor unions support Republicans, which I think is a virtuous cycle for our party," he continued.

J.D. Vance sees shift in Republican Party

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Trump announced Vance as the Republican's vice-presidential candidate in a post to Truth Social Monday afternoon.

"After lengthy deliberation and thought, and considering the tremendous talents of many others, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio," Trump posted.

He wrote that Vance would be "strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond."

Vance, who rose to national prominence after writing the bestselling book Hillbilly Elegy, was first elected to the Senate in 2022 and has cast himself as among the chamber's most conservative members. Trump's announcement was met with praise from many of his supporters Monday afternoon.

He has embraced more populist economic rhetoric than some more traditional conservatives and voiced support for striking auto workers in 2023.

"Today, I will join striking UAW workers on the picket line in Toledo and stand with them in their fight for higher wages and long-term survival. My message to the UAW leadership is simple: I will fight for American jobs and higher wages for American auto workers," he wrote in a Newsweek opinion article published in October 2023.

However, he has not supported the union-backed PRO Act, according to Politico.

Trump has made efforts to reach union voters, also delivering a speech to the striking United Auto Workers (UAW) in September 2023. The RNC will also provide a speaking slot to Sean O'Brien, president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a union that has not made a presidential endorsement.

Union households backed Biden in 2020, though Republicans have gained ground with the voter group in the past few decades.

In 2020, Biden won union households by 16 points (56 percent to 40 percent), but former President Barack Obama won them by 20 points (59 percent to 39 percent) in 2008, according to the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.

Former President Bill Clinton won union households by 30 percent (60 percent to 30 percent) in 1996. In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton won them by only 8 points (51 percent to 43 percent), according to the center.