Author and attorney J.D. Vance makes his case for winning the vote in Ohio Senate race

Ohio (WTRF) —

Ohio’s elections are set for November 8th, and one of the biggest positions up for grabs is Rob Portman’s soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat.

One man running for the spot is bestselling author J.D. Vance.

Vance stopped by 7NEWS earlier this week to talk about the race.

Nearly two dozen candidates will be vying for one of Ohio’s two seats in the United States Senate this November, but Republicans will have a huge swath of options to choose from in the May 3rd primary.

Vance is one of 14 Republicans on the ballot in May, with the winner going on to face the Democrat and Independent challengers.

Vance is hoping to come out on top with a message aimed at working class voters.

“I was raised by my grandparents because my mom struggled with opioid addiction, so I think I see the problems of this state in a way that’s very personal. It’s not just, I read about them in a book somewhere, I actually lived these things very personally,” Vance shared.

Vance’s early life growing up low income in Middletown, Ohio was chronicled in his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy.

The book was also adapted into a movie, directed by Ron Howard and starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.

But after joining the Marines and serving in the Iraq War, he went on to Ohio State, before getting accepted to Yale Law School.

Growing up in working class Ohio, and then moving into the most prestigious segments of society, he says he noticed some problems.

“And one of the things I realized is that so many of the people who control this country feel no real sense of obligation or duty to the citizens of this country, and that’s something we’ve got to change. You can’t have a real country if the leaders don’t feel they owe the citizens anything,” said Vance.

He says an “unholy alliance” has formed between our government and the country’s biggest corporations. With so many names on the ballot, we asked Vance about a common problem among politicians.

They will say certain things on the campaign trail to the delight of voters, but when they win, they don’t keep those promises, leaving voters feeling betrayed.

Vance said, “I think so many Republicans that go to Washington, they really crave the affection of the press. And at the end of the day, if the press doesn’t care about places like Steubenville or Youngstown then you’re not going to be serving the people of Steubenville and Youngstown, you’re going to be serving the masters of the corporate media.”