JD Vance playing defense in unexpectedly close Ohio Senate race

If Republicans cannot drag Vance across the finish line, it could spell doom for the party's hopes of flipping the Senate

JD Vance had some explaining to do. After winning a brutal, costly primary to secure the Republican nomination in Ohio's Senate race, Vance had spent the summer making few appearances on the campaign trail and allowing his Democratic opponent, congressman Tim Ryan, to dominate the airwaves.

Now polls showed Vance, a first-time candidate and author of the bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, running neck and neck with Ryan in a race that many Republicans had hoped would be an easy win.