J.D. Vance Used to Be Anti-Trump — Was He Ever a Democrat?

Following several years of political vitriol, the 2024 vice-presidential debate was shockingly and refreshingly ... tame. While the two opposing candidates — Republican J.D. Vance and Democrat Tim Walz — fundamentally disagree on many issues, there were several moments of grace and respect between the men that viewers, especially young ones who grew up during the rise of Trump, weren't used to.

They shook hands, thanked each other for their time, and even admitted to sharing some values. This behavior, coupled with J.D. Vance's highly publicized previous disdain for his running mate, have caused some folks to question his political history.

Was J.D. Vance ever a Democrat?

J.D. Vance's political loyalties have come into question a few times, namely related to his previous distaste for running mate Donald Trump. However, when taking a look back at the Senator's political history, it seems that Vance has, for the most part, always pulled for the right.

Even in the earliest stages of his career, while attending Ohio State University in 2007, Vance worked under Republican state senator Bob Schuler. Later, after graduating with his Juris Doctorate degree from Yale in 2013, he continued his political career while working for Republican Senator John Cornyn. He also served as a law clerk for conservative Judge David Bunning.

Since then, he has been affiliated with countless conservative projects and organizations, from the With Honor Fund Super PAC to Rockbridge Network, which he co-founded with fellow Republican Chris Buskirk.

Vance, of course, went on to run for U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2022 and is now a figurehead of the Republican Party as Donald Trump's 2024 VP pick. He has also been tied to the extremely right-wing Project 2025, though both he and his running mate have denied their affiliation with the conservative initiative.

And though he once described Donald Trump as "reprehensible" and "America's Hitler," he has always aligned himself with the Republican Party. He has previously called himself a member of the "post-liberal right" and is considered to be a national conservative, both identities that he has carried with him throughout his decades-long political career.

Though he's a staunch Republican, J.D. Vance once wrote in the New York Times that he felt a sort of kinship with Obama and compared their personal stories.

In the piece, titled "Obama and Me," Vance said that Barack Obama gave him "hope."

"Despite an unstable life with a single mother, aided by two loving grandparents, he had made in his adulthood a family life that seemed to embody my sense of the American ideal," he said of the former president. "I suspected that there were skeletons lurking in his closet, too. ... I disagreed with many of his positions, so perhaps a dark part of me wanted such a scandal to come out. But it never came. He and his wife treated each other with clear love and respect, and he adored and cared for his children."

He continued, "The president’s example offered something no other public figure could: hope. ... At a pivotal time in my life, Barack Obama gave me hope that a boy who grew up like me could still achieve the most important of my dreams. For that, I’ll miss him, and the example he set."