Ohio Senator J.D. Vance just became a frontrunner for Donald Trump's Vice Presidency pick following a significant victory in a poll of attendees at Turning Point Action's People's Convention in Detroit.
Knewz.com has learned that the other choices offered at the poll in Detroit were North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.
Out of the 1,986 people gathered at the People's Convention in Detroit, 43% chose Senator Vance as their choice for the Vice President's position.
The support Detroit showed the Ohio Senator made him a "runaway leader" in the Vice Presidency race, with Senator Scott coming up a distant second with 15.4% votes.
On the other hand, the North Dakota Governor ended up on the lower end of the spectrum, with only seven percent votes, despite being talked up by Trump.
The poll was conducted by the grassroots movement Big Data Poll for Turning Point Action, founded by right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk.
"[Senator Vance] has consistently been one of President Trump's most capable and articulate defenders and surrogates and he speaks right to the Midwest Americans who attended our Detroit conference," Kirk commented on the Ohio Senator's win in the Detroit poll.
"These are precisely the blue wall voters we need to win in November to reclaim the White House. His message and appeal clearly resonates with this critical voting bloc," he added in his exclusive statement to Daily Mail.
When the Detroit gathering asked Senator Vance what a vice president should do to drive forward Trump's agenda, he replied "Show loyalty."
"There are a lot of smart good people that Trump is looking at, but it also applies to our senators. It applies to our congressmen and women too... We need to have people who are supporting Trump not trying to stab him in the back. It's very very simple."
In the 2020 Presidential elections, Trump's VP pick was Indiana Governor Mike Pence. However, the People's Convention in Detroit showed their disapproval of Pence as House Speaker.
Per Daily Mail, around 35.4% voted that they 'strongly disapproved' of the former Vice presidency frontrunner, while 23.2% said they 'somewhat disapproved.'
"This time, however, Trump has let it be known that he believes voters will only look at the top of the ticket, freeing him up to pick a loyalist who will defend him in a crisis," the outlet reported.
It is worth noting that Senator Vance used to be an outspoken Trump critic before becoming one of his closest allies. He rose to popularity with his 2016 book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.
The memoir tells the story of living in poverty in the Appalachian region of the United States, and offers an insight into life in the "forgotten parts of America."
However, Vance's book also faced backlash from historians and journalists over his depiction of Appalachia and its people, whom he described as lazy. "Many folks talk about working more than they actually work," the Ohio Senator had written in his book, per TIME.
Historian Elizabeth Catte wrote a book called What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia in 2018, where she analyzed a broad range of contemporary writing on Appalachia, including Senator Vance’s book, which later on got a film adaptation.
Breaking down the Appalachian stereotypes reportedly being peddled in Hillbilly Elegy, Catte told NPR, "There’s a projection of his realities onto the lives of everybody in the region, and it’s not in my mind accidental."
"The universalizing that is done in the book is something that’s become a trademark of J.D. Vance’s engagement as a pundit and a political up-and-comer."
Speaking of Senator Vance's chances in the Vice Presidency race, Kirk stated that he believes he would be the best candidate for the position. "He is young... He has an amazing family and is the only veteran that is being considered of the finalists."
"But most importantly, he's an incredibly popular, successful politician from the region of the world where Donald Trump needs to win, which is the Rust Belt," he told Daily Mail.
