JD Vance didn't mention Trump in Ohio Senate victory speech despite endorsement

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Republican JD Vance defeats Democrat Tim Ryan in Ohio Senate race, Fox News projects

Fox News correspondent Mark Meredith reports on JD Vance winning a key Senate race against Tim Ryan in Ohio.

Sen.-elect JD Vance, R-Ohio, did not mention former President Donald Trump in his victory speech Tuesday night, despite receiving Trump's endorsement.

Vance is among a number of high-profile Senate candidates in tight races who Trump endorsed, but he is the only one to have secured a victory on Tuesday night. The others either lost or are in races too close to call, as in Georgia and Wisconsin.

Vance's victory speech saw him thanking dozens of people involved either directly in his campaign or in assisting his win, but Trump wasn't among them.

Vance nevertheless thanked Trump for his endorsement in a Wednesday statement to Fox News Digital, saying the former president's support "made all the difference."

"I can’t thank President Trump enough for his support," Vance said. "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."

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JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance wave to supporters after winning the primary, at an election night event at Duke Energy Convention Center on May 3, 2022, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Vance's victory came amid a less than spectacular night for Republicans elsewhere in the country, where the vaunted red wave turned into a trickle.

Many conservative commentators took the election results as a sign it was time for the GOP to move on from Trump. Commentators argued that Trump had endorsed outlandish candidates who turned easy victories into close races and close races into losses.

Others compared Trump's failure to secure wins across the country to the huge wave of support for Republicans in Gov. Ron DeSantis' Florida. 

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"All the chatter on my conservative and GOP channels is rage at Trump like I've never seen," Michael Brendan Dougherty, a senior writer at National Review, wrote on Twitter. "'The one guy he attacked before Election Day was DeSantis — the clear winner, meanwhile, all his guys are s---ing the bed.'"

"GOP Source tells me after tonight, with Trump candidates underperforming and DeSantis winning by double digits, 2024 is a "free for all," wrote RealClearPolitics reporter Phil Wegmann. "'Everybody in the water. If you want to take on Trump, he’s never been weaker.'"

Senate candidate Mehmet Oz, who lost to John Fetterman Tuesday, joins former President Donald Trump onstage during a rally at the Westmoreland County Fairgrounds. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

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Of the races that have been decided as of Wednesday morning, Trump's endorsed candidates have won nine and lost eight, according to an analysis from Axios.