Vance stepped out of the motorcade with his wife, Usha, and their three young children to enter the precinct.
Numerous residents also there to vote were surprised to see so many members of the media and security standing by awaiting Vance’s arrival. They were unaware he would be there at that time.
After he voted with his wife, Vance addressed the media, which included numerous national outlets that have followed his entire campaign. He said he and his wife voted for Trump and U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, a Westlake businessman running against incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown.
When asked to predict Tuesday’s election results, Vance said, “I feel good, but you don’t know until you know.”
After voting, he planned to head back to his East Walnut Hills home and then fly to Mar-A-Lago in Florida to be with Trump as the results rolled in Tuesday night.
Vance voted in this same precinct two years ago when he successfully ran for U.S. Senate, and he told the media he is hopeful the results are the same this year.
When asked about voting for himself 35 miles from where he was born and raised in Middletown, Vance said “my heart is just overwhelmed with gratitude and the generosity of the American people. The fact that I’m standing here is very much a testament that we live in the greatest country in the world.”
If elected, Vance said: “I will pay down the debt I owe to this country. I will never be able to return what this country has given to me.”
Vance was asked about the divisiveness this election has created in the U.S.
’We ought to argue, disagree about, pursue each other about politics,” he said. “That’s part of the natural process. But we can’t discard friends and we can’t discard family members. We ought love people, we ought to be friends with people, we ought to be family members with people regardless of their politics. That would do a lot to heal the division.”
He said even a few of his friends ended their relationships after the announcement that he voted for Trump four years ago and he would be Trump’s vice presidential candidate.
“That’s a tragedy, and I will not follow that example,” he said.
Vance’s comments to the media lasted about five minutes, and then he returned to the motorcade to depart.
Some political experts have said since Vance is serving his first term as a U.S. senator, he lacks the experience to be Trump’s vice president, while Vance’s close friends have pointed to his educational background that includes degrees from Ohio State University and Yale Law School.
Vance’s first solo rally as a vice presidential candidate on July 22 drew a crowd that exceeded the space in the Middletown High School auditorium and showed that he has the support of many in his hometown.
Streets in Middletown and throughout Butler County appear to be lined with more yard signs for Trump and Vance than the Democratic ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Trump carried Butler County by more than 20 points in the last two presidential elections.
Throughout the current campaign, Vance has talked about his mother’s drug addictions and numerous failed marriages, and how his grandmother, whom he calls “mamaw,” was his guiding force.
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