Ohio Democratic Party Statement On The Results Of The GOP U.S. Senate Primary
May 3, 2022
Following the results of the Ohio GOP U.S. Senate primary, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters released the following statement:
“It’s no wonder that an elitist like California Vance admits he feels ‘out of place’ in Ohio after leaving the state behind and moving to San Francisco, scoring a New York City book deal to cash in on Ohioans’ pain and making untold millions from a Netflix Hollywood movie deal. California Vance is an elitist and a fraud who blamed Ohio workers for their own hardships while absolving unfair trade deals and giant corporations of their role in outsourcing jobs and devastating Ohio communities. But it’s not just Ohioans who are fair game – California Vance actually thinks our whole country is ‘kind of a joke.’ Now, this Silicon Valley elitist is looking for another ticket out of Ohio so he can move back to Washington D.C. to become California’s third Senator. We look forward to holding California Vance accountable so every voter knows he’s an out-of-touch elitist who left Ohio behind and does not have Ohio values.”
BACKGROUND:
- Headline: Jason Williams: As J.D. Vance launches U.S. Senate campaign, does ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author still feel ‘out of place’ in Ohio? [Cincinnati.com, 7/2/21]
- Vance’s Central Argument In Hillbilly Elegy Is That “Hillbillies Themselves Are To Blame For Their Troubles.” According to the New Republic, “Vance’s central argument is that hillbillies themselves are to blame for their troubles. ‘Our religion has changed,’ he laments, to a version ‘heavy on emotional rhetoric’ and ‘light on the kind of social support’ that he needed as a child. He also faults ‘a peculiar crisis of masculinity.’ This brave new world, in sore need of that old time religion and manly men, is apparently to blame for everything from his mother’s drug addiction to the region’s economic crisis. ‘We spend our way to the poorhouse,’ he writes. ‘We buy giant TVs and iPads. Our children wear nice clothes thanks to high-interest credit cards and payday loans. We purchase homes we don’t need, refinance them for more spending money, and declare bankruptcy, often leaving them full of garbage in our wake. Thrift is inimical to our being.’” [New Republic, 11/17/16]
- Vance Made Most Of His Earnings From A Thiel-Backed Venture Capital Firm And Royalties From “Hillbilly Elegy.” According to CNBC, “Most of Vance’s earnings came from his Thiel-backed venture capital firm and royalties from his bestselling memoir ‘Hillbilly Elegy,’ according to Vance’s financial disclosure…” [CNBC, 11/26/21]
- J.D. Vance Said The Reason People Were Not Working Is Some Perceived Unfairness But It Was A “Lie” That “All The Jobs Went To The Chinese.” According to The Vindicator, Vance wrote in Hillbilly Elegy, “We talk about the value of hard work, but tell ourselves that the reason we’re not working is some perceived unfairness: (Barack) Obama shut down the coal mines or all the jobs went to the Chinese. These are the lies we tell ourselves to solve the cognitive dissonance.” [The Vindicator, 4/28/22]
- Headline: Republican Senate candidate J.D. Vance says ‘our country is kind of a joke’ in justifying his off-color tweets [Insider, 1/24/22]
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