Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, didn’t select Ohio’s Sen. J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate for his political experience.

Vance’s fewer than 19 months in elected office probably works to his advantage.

Prior to Trump winning the presidency in 2016, he had never held public office. Trump has successfully convinced many that elected officials — particularly those who serve in Congress or presidential administrations — are part of the “D.C. swamp” that has hurt the country.

Vance wasn’t selected so Trump could win Ohio, once a swing state the former president has won handily in 2016 and 2020 by about 8%. Vance may help Trump in Rust Belt states, though he isn’t that well known in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin — or really anywhere.

Vance has connections to major Silicon Valley donors who have contributed to Trump thanks to his help. But Vance’s Senate campaign fund has a mere $202,764 surplus as of June 30. That doesn’t include $162,314 his campaign still owes in debt and the $614,500 it owes him for a campaign loan.

What Vance brings to the ticket, besides his youth, is he’s articulate, smart and has an ability to connect with people. People can relate to Vance despite his Ivy League education and his vast wealth from being a venture capitalist.

Trump also gets someone who has proven in the past few years to be fiercely loyal to him, and that is something he greatly values.

In recent years, Vance has become close friends with Donald Trump Jr., who, as Trump’s oldest son, has tremendous influence over his father.

Vance turned his life story into “Hillbilly Elegy,” a best-selling book that was later made into a film. Trump loves turning celebrities into politicians — think Herschel Walker and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who Trump backed in 2022 during failed Senate races.

During the 2022 Senate race in Ohio, Vance was in the middle of a crowded Republican field for the party’s nomination when Trump decided a few weeks before the primary to endorse him.

Without Trump’s endorsement and $15 million from a super political action committee funded by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, his mentor and a close friend, Vance’s chance of winning the GOP primary wasn’t great.

Trump’s endorsement helped Vance win the primary and then the general election. Vance’s victory over Democrat Tim Ryan by 6.1% was, by far, the closest statewide election in 2022.

The endorsement was interesting in that Vance was a vocal Trump critic during the 2016 election.

During that campaign, Vance called Trump “reprehensible,” “an idiot,” “a Never Trump guy,” “a moral disaster,” and didn’t vote for him in 2016. And that’s what he said in public.

But by 2021, with his Senate campaign kicking off, Vance changed his tune on Trump.

A few months after Vance got into the race, his campaign scheduled a meeting for me with him for Oct. 22, 2021, in Weathersfield.

Vance was very personable and easy to talk to, responding to my questions about his past criticism of Trump, which was a huge issue during the Senate campaign, particularly before the endorsement.

Vance said his criticism was because he didn’t initially understand Trump and had been burned by previous Republican presidential nominees.

He said, “I assumed that everybody who ran was basically a scumbag, so I had a certain mistrust that any politician would deliver on his promises, and Trump actually did a good job. So one of the important things is when the facts change, you change your mind. The facts to me were he actually honored his promises.”

Vance also echoed one of Trump’s major talking points — there was massive fraud in the 2020 election.

“There were certainly people voting illegally on a large-scale basis,” he told me.

Vance said Trump “probably won by even larger margins (in Ohio) were it not for the Democratic cheating.”

During a Sept. 17, 2022, rally for Vance in Youngstown, Trump said, “This is a great person who I’ve really gotten to know. Yeah, he said some bad things about me, but that was before he knew me, and then he fell in love.”

He also took another dig at Vance, saying, “J.D. is kissing my a–. He wants my support.”

Vance got that support, provided it to Trump and was rewarded with the opportunity of a lifetime.

Have an interesting story? Contact David Skolnick by email at dskolnick@vindy.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dskolnick.