Republican vice presidential candidate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

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Alex Wong/Getty Images

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — When vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance spoke to the crowd at the RNC last night, he made a promise to the people of Middletown, Ohio and other blue-collar towns like it.

“All the forgotten communities in every corner of our nation: I will be a vice president who never forgets where he came from,” he said.

Some people in Middletown, where Vance grew up with his grandparents, said he has never been an advocate for them, even after becoming a U.S. senator.

“Oh, my God. It is very surprising considering that J.D. Vance hasn’t did anything for our community here in Middletown,” said Lakeisha Thomas Monday after news that former President Trump picked Vance as a running mate. Thomas runs a non-profit for low-income residents in Middletown.

Even so, Vance’s roots could be enough for folks eager to see the “hometown kid” succeed.

“It’s always awesome to see someone from your hometown get to come up and represent a local place, no matter what their political party is,” said Andrea McKeller, a local real estate agent who says she thinks Vance’s small-town roots will drive him to “put in place a lot of policies to, hopefully, move some favor toward the smaller towns to help the communities grow.”

Others in Middletown said they were surprised by the news, given Vance’s relatively young age. He’s 39, turning 40 next month.

“I was astonished, I thought he was kind of young,” said Janet Hydeman, who works for a stained glass company and says she votes Republican. She reflected that being young and having a youthful image could help draw in younger voters.

“If he can keep reaching out to find out what younger people want and keep bringing that into the mix of the Republican Party, otherwise, I think we’re getting kind of old.”

Vance’s previous comments on Trump will no doubt be fodder for the Democratic campaign. You can prepare to hear sound bites everywhere from eight years ago when Vance was out touting his book Hillbilly Elegy, and calling Trump an “idiot” and “reprehensible,” at one point comparing Trump to Hitler.

He’ll need to convince Trump loyalists that he’s solidly on their team now. Hydeman said she wants to be assured he truly believes the things he’s saying now and not just backing the Trump line for his own political gain.

Donald Peck, who says he’s voted for Democrats and Republicans – notably, he said, Trump in 2016 but Biden in 2020 – was surprised Vance was in politics at all, pointing out Vance’s political career began in 2022 when he ran for and won Ohio’s junior U.S. Senate seat.

“I guess he’s as well-qualified as any,” he said.

One person in Middletown who doesn’t care about Vance’s nomination or the fact that he’s from Middletown is software developer Orville Bennett who didn’t want to give his political party affiliation. With a shrug he said it doesn’t affect his life. “No, not even a little bit.”

Bennett said he doesn’t plan to vote for either presidential candidate, nor does he think the election’s outcome will make much of a difference in his day-to-day life.

“I think they’re both not great options for the things that I value,” he said.

For Ohio, Vance’s nomination could mean a resurgence in prominence on the national scene. Once purple, Ohio hasn’t been a pivotal swing state for some years. His selection this week has fired up Buckeye state Republicans, including Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou who told those at an Ohio delegation breakfast this week that the state is “back in the mix on the presidential side with Sen. Vance at the top of the ticket.”