JD Vance votes at Cincinnati church: 'Let's get this election over the finish line'
CINCINNATI, Ohio – Vice presidential candidate JD Vance , standing outside the Cincinnati church where he cast his vote on Tuesday, called on voters to "get this election over the finish line."
Vance voted Tuesday morning at St. Anthony of Padua, a Catholic church in Cincinnati's East Walnut Hills neighborhood, where he's owned a home since 2018 . The Republican Ohio senator is from Middletown, Ohio, located about 40 miles north.
Vance was joined by his wife, Usha Vance , and their young sons, Ewan and Vivek.
"I, of course, voted for Donald Trump and myself and so did my wife," he told reporters after voting. Vance said he and his wife also voted for Republican Bernie Moreno, who is running to defeat Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.
"I feel good," he said about the presidential race. "You never know until you know, but I feel good about this race. I felt good about my own race (for Senate) a couple of years ago when I voted in this exact same spot. Hopefully it goes as well for President Trump and me as it went a couple of years ago in Ohio."
Vance would not speculate on who he'd like to take his Senate seat if he wins, saying he's "too superstitious to talk about those things."
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The senator said he hadn't spoken with Trump on Tuesday, but missed a call from the former president around 3 a.m.
"I think that what today represents is an opportunity to pay down a debt that I owe to this country," Vance said when asked how it felt to vote for himself for vice president near his hometown.
"If I am the vice president, I'm going to work as hard as I can to pay down that debt. I don't think I'll ever be able to return what this country has given to me, but I'm gonna try. But we have to win first."
Vance also spoke about increased polarization and how people will need to come together regardless of the outcome.
"My most important message is we ought to argue, disagree, persuade each other about politics. That's part of the natural process. But we can't discard friends, and we can't discard family members," he said. "I've got a few friends who have cast their friendship aside because I decided that I wanted Donald J. Trump to be the winner in the last election and this election. I think that's a tragedy."
Polls between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris were still razor-thin Tuesday .
"We feel very good about the energy, we feel very good about the early vote, but ultimately, the ball is in the court of the American people," Vance said. "Today is the day. If you don't want an open border, vote for Donald Trump. If you wanna get back to low inflation and affordable groceries, vote for Donald Trump. If you want to return the world to peace and stability, vote Donald Trump."
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