Fear of illegal immigrants helps J.D. Vance triumph in Ohio’s primaries

MASON, A SUBURB north of Cincinnati, does not feel like a place where the apocalypse is coming soon. It is a district of detached houses and perfect landscaping. After voting at a bucolic-looking wedding venue, however, David Myer, a retired health-care worker, says he sees a much darker future. Thanks to Joe Biden (“not the president”), illegal immigrants are being invited en masse into Ohio. They are living on welfare “and all of the free stuff we give them”, and voting for Democrats. Some are even coming to Mason and begging at traffic lights. “We’re on the precipice of social collapse,” he says.

Mr Myer did not vote for J.D. Vance, the author and venture capitalist who won the Republican primary for the Senate on May 3rd. But his talking points could have come straight out of one of Mr Vance’s speeches. With his vision of America being looted by woke corporations, illegal immigrants and a crooked liberal media, Mr Vance persuaded 32% of Republican voters to back him, enough to win in the crowded field.