Ohio’s J.D. Vance omits Trump in Senate victory speech

J.D. Vance, Ohio’s newly minted Republican senator-elect, made no mention of Donald Trump in his victory speech Tuesday despite receiving the former president’s endorsement.

Mr. Vance returned to his more centrist bent after edging out the Democratic challenger, Rep. Tim Ryan, to hold on to the Republican seat vacated by retiring Sen. Rob Portman in his speech.

“Whether you voted for me or not, the thing I promise to do is go to the United States Senate and fight every single day for the people of Ohio,” Mr. Vance said.

Mr. Trump’s role in the campaign was left out of Mr. Vance’s speech, despite his thanking dozens of others who propelled him to victory.

Mr. Vance’s campaign said the speech was not meant as a slight to the former president, and that his endorsement was critical to his victory.

“I can’t thank President Trump enough for his support,” Mr. Vance said in a statement Wednesday.

Mr. Vance was a staunch critic of Mr. Trump in the lead-up to the 2016 election, describing himself as a “Never Trump guy” and slamming Mr. Trump as an “idiot.” The Yale Law graduate floated the idea of voting for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 runoff against Mr. Trump.

The former Marine and author of “Hillbilly Elegy” secured Mr. Trump’s tenuous endorsement in April, helping him eke out Ohio’s Republican primary in May.

“This is not an easy endorsement for me to make because I like and respect some of the other candidates in the race — they’ve said great things about ’Trump’ and, like me, they love Ohio and love our country,” Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump continued to campaign heavily for Mr. Vance in the lead-up to the midterms, organizing several large-scale rallies in Ohio.

“His endorsement and the work he did to drive turnout — including a huge rally in Dayton on election eve — made all the difference in this race, and led us to the largest battleground victory in the nation,” Mr. Vance said.