ERIE, Pa. – Sen. J.D. Vance resonated with Pennsylvania voters Wednesday when he touched on an issue that affects millions of American families: the drug addiction his mother battled when he was a young man.
Many people who attended Vance's campaign rally in Erie told The Washington Post they were pleased former President Donald Trump chose him as his running mate because Vance can empathize with the struggles their families face.
Erie County is considered a battleground state, so political support is crucial.
“I have two siblings who have died from opioids,” said Mary Doyle, 63, a stay-at-home mom who lives in Erie. “I have neighbors who have kids, and their kids are dying one after the other.”
“We saw Mary's brother in a body bag two years ago, addicted to opioids, fentanyl. And nobody talks about it,” added Dan Doyle, a fracker and Mary's husband who opened for Vance.
“Nobody cares,” Mary says, “but I see J.D. Vance talking about it. I see Trump talking about it. I see Democrats talking about it.”
She plans to vote for Donald Trump for the third time this November and is pleased that Vance is the Republican candidate.
Vance rose to fame in 2016 with his New York Times bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” which described how he overcame violence and instability while growing up in Middletown, Ohio, with a single mother who was addicted to opioids.
Vance said at the Republican National Convention last month that his mother has been sober for 10 years.
Chris Knight, 68, brought a copy of Vance's book to the event and said his daughter struggled with heroin addiction for years and is now “helping others avoid the same path.” Both are huge Vance fans.
“I know exactly how he feels. I totally understand how he feels,” Knight, a school chef near Corry, Pennsylvania, told The Post.
Vance said Erie reminds him of where he grew up: “It's a beautiful place with a proud manufacturing tradition that's been preserved.”
Automation and competition from China are hollowing out Erie's economy. Erie County is now Job losses According to the Washington Post, the city has a larger population and more residents today than it did in 2001.
Vance blamed the consensus to move manufacturing overseas and “Kamala Harris's stupid policies.”
“When you go to a place like Erie, Pennsylvania, the No. 1 issue is inflation,” he said. “The No. 2 issue is, why did Kamala Harris open up the southern border and allow the cartels to bring in the poison that's killing our families?”
Mary agreed: “The border is open, we're just letting it flow in.”
Deaths from Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids More than twice as much Since 2020 when the pandemic hit.
Biden-Harris Administration Spent more While the focus is on treatment and prevention rather than disrupting the drug supply, illegal border crossings from Mexico, where drug cartels smuggle fentanyl into the United States, Best ever December 2023.
With President Trump's mass deportation plan, Vance promised Erie, “fewer people will die and suffer from drug overdoses.”
Erie County voted for Trump in 2016 and narrowly voted for Biden in 2020. Highest Rate In 2023, it had the second-highest opioid overdose deaths of any county in Pennsylvania and the second-highest drug-related deaths. Of the 122 drug-related deaths, 90% were due to fentanyl. On one day in June, there were seven overdose deaths. 6 hr.
“This is the opioid epicenter,” Mary says. “People are losing their jobs, children are losing hope.”
“Kids are scared,” said Maria Doyle, whose daughter is 16 and a high school sophomore.
Her twin sister, Elena, added: “There are strings everywhere.”
Young people, especially university students, “take pills, stay up late studying, and then they die,” Maria said. “It happened to my neighbors.”
They said Republicans have a hard time reaching young voters like them, but that Vance could change that.
“I can't see [Trump] “He doesn't understand my position at all. He's so rich, I can't understand how to be in his position. J.D. Vance has more understanding,” Elena says. Not only is he younger, but “his background is really inspiring to all of us that there is an opportunity for everyone.”
“Anyone can understand how he feels,” Maria added.
They recently saw the movie “Hillbilly Elegy.” “He's like the hillbilly in the movie,” Maria said. “He understands addiction.”
“The whole Republican Party is changing, and we're on the opioid issue,” her mother said. “Now Democrats are elitist and Republicans are working class.”
Vance Public Opinion Poll Though disapproval was about 10% more prevalent than favorable, the twins agreed he is the future of the Republican Party.
“He still has a lot of time left,” Elena said with a laugh. “He's 40.”
