James David “JD” Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, has eastern Kentucky connections.

Vance grew up in Middletown, Ohio, but he was raised by his mamaw (grandmother for those of you reading this who are not from our region). His parents divorced when he was a toddler.

His ancestors are from Kentucky and Appalachia. His mamaw moved with her husband to Ohio from Jackson, Kentucky. Like many from the region, they went north to find work in the factories or industries in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. She was young when she left the hills of Kentucky.

Vance spent summers in Kentucky when his mamaw visited family. He and his wife have already secured their plots in his family cemetery near Jackson in Breathitt County.

I had relatives on my mother’s side of the family who did the same thing in the late 1950s or 1960s. They migrated north to find work.

Many citizens in Ohio and Michigan have roots in West Virginia and Kentucky.

You may have heard the old saying that was also a country song title by Pike County native Dwight Yoakum – “Readin’, Writin’ and Route 23.”

Donald J. Trump selected Vance to be his running mate after a solid list had been narrowed down to five candidates. He is reportedly good friends with Trump’s son, Don Jr.

Vance is currently the junior United States Senator from Ohio since 2023. An up-and-coming member of the Republican Party, he is now making lots of news as the party’s nominee for vice president in the November 2024 General Election.

Vance’s childhood was marked by poverty and abuse as his mother struggled with drug addiction. She is now almost 10 years clean and sober and Vance happily introduced her during his speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Vance and his sister Lindsey were raised primarily by his maternal grandmother since their mother had her issues early in her life. After graduating high school in his hometown of Middletown, Ohio, Vance served from 2003 to 2007 as a combat correspondent, with six months served in Iraq. He then attended Ohio State University, graduating in 2009.

Vance graduated from the prestigious Ivy League Yale Law School in 2013. He then spent a year as a law clerk for Judge David Bunning of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky

His 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” became a New York Times bestseller and was made into a feature film in 2020. If you have not seen the movie, it is now playing on Netflix.

It describes his upbringing in a small town in Ohio, where his family struggled but had a strong Appalachian culture. It also includes his visits back to the Bluegrass State.

After becoming a lawyer, Vance was also a successful businessman in Ohio.

Vance is considered to be strongly conservative on abortion, same-sex marriage and gun control. During his speech, he smiled when he told the story of cleaning out his mamaw’s house after she passed away and how they found 19 loaded handguns hidden in various rooms around the home.

Vance actually did not support Trump back in 2016. However, after seeing some of his success as president, he became a staunch supporter of the current GOP candidate. By February 2018, Vance began changing his opinion, saying Trump “is one of the few political leaders in America that recognizes the frustration that exists in large parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and eastern Kentucky.”

In 2014, Vance married Usha Chilukuri in Kentucky. She is also a lawyer, and the couple met while they were students at Yale Law School. They have three children.

During her speech at the convention, Usha Vance noted that she and her husband came from different backgrounds. She is the daughter of two Indian immigrants who grew up in San Diego. She was raised in the Hindu religion.

Vance was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church after converting to that religion.

The huge crowd at the Republican Convention seemed to love Vance as he got several roaring ovations.

So Kentucky, Appalachia and rural America will have a huge link to the election if Trump and Vance win. There will be an important connection to Washington in future years.

Until next time.

(Kyle Lovern is a longtime journalist in the Tug Valley. He is now a retired freelance writer and columnist for the Mountain Citizen.)