How JD Vance could set himself up to be Trump’s GOP successor

• Sen. JD Vance had a lot to prove during his vice-presidential debate with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
• Vance has struggled with key voting blocs in recent months. But he’s excelling among Republicans.
• The Ohioan seems to be positioning himself a the GOP heir apparent in 2028.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz stepped onto the brightest stage of their careers during their unusually civil vice-presidential debate last week.

The face-off largely went as expected: Vance sought to carry the banner for former President Donald Trump and conservatism, while Walz zeroed in on issues of importance to Democrats, seeking to boost Vice President Kamala Harris.

But while Walz attacked Trump right out of the gate, Vance took a more balanced approach: He promoted the former president’s brand of conservatism, but he also discussed his own philosophy.

Immediately after the debate, CNN political analyst and former Trump administration aide Alyssa Farah Griffin remarked on Vance’s ability to communicate with Trump’s supporters while also calling him a “chameleon” who sought to make inroads with more voters.

“I don’t know that this moves the needle, but I do think it solidifies his place as the MAGA heir apparent,” she said in a post-debate analysis.

Here’s a look at some of the recent steps Vance has taken to solidify his GOP credentials ahead of a potential 2028 campaign.

It won’t be easy for the GOP to move on from Trump

Trump has defined the Republican Party for nearly a decade, with the June 2015 campaign launch of his 2016 presidential campaign setting into motion a broad rebrand of the GOP.

Republicans like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley earlier this year sought to articulate their own visions for what a post-Trump GOP could look like during their unsuccessful presidential campaigns.

But Trump easily secured his third presidential nomination, reflecting the longstanding appeal that he has with many conservatives.

But what will happen to the party in 2028, whether or not Trump wins in November? Who will take up the party’s mantle? Right now it looks like it could be Vance.

The GOP’s future could be tied to Vance

Vance has enjoyed a national profile since publishing “Hillbilly Elegy” in 2016. He expanded that profile when he was elected to the Senate in 2022.

But Trump’s decision to tap Vance as his running mate took the senator’s young political career to heights that have surpassed many of the more experienced Republicans on Capitol Hill — including onetime presidential candidates like South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

For a party that could face an identity crisis after Trump no longer dominates it, Vance is someone who could offer a transition, appealing to both moderate Republicans and Trump’s “MAGA” base.

During the debate, Vance showed that he could walk that line. He brushed aside questions about the 2020 presidential election results and the events of January 6, 2021, largely following the lead of other prominent pro-Trump Republicans. It showed that despite Vance’s efforts to take on a more congenial persona, there’d still be plenty of pro-Trump signals of support.

Mike Nellis, a former Harris senior advisor and “White Dudes for Harris” organizer, told Business Insider after the debate that Vance leaned into the Trump political brand in a way that would appeal to conservative decision-makers, who will have to envision a GOP universe where the ex-president isn’t the top figure.

“What he did do was articulate MAGA policies in a much more articulate and thoughtful way than what you hear from Donald Trump,” he said. “And there is value to that, but there’s value to that amongst a very small class of people, many of whom are positioning Vance to be the future of the MAGA movement.”

Of course, 2028 is a long way off, and Republicans remain focused on Trump’s reelection campaign, as Vance’s spokesperson, William Martin, made clear in a statement.

“The only thing Senator Vance is thinking about is making sure we put President Donald J. Trump back in the White House,”he said. “If we come up short this November, what happens in 2028 won’t matter because this country will be beyond saving.”