A month ago, J.D. Vance was left for dead. On Tuesday evening, he won the U.S. Senate primary.

With around 60 percent of the vote in as of this writing, the race has been called by multiple outlets, and Vance will represent the Ohio GOP against Democrat Tim Ryan in an important Senate race this fall.

Decision Desk HQ projects J.D Vance (@JDVance1) has won the OH GOP Senate Nomination

Race Call At: May 3rd 9:09pm edt

More results here: https://t.co/MOUZI5gypR

— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) May 4, 2022

BREAKING: J.D. Vance projected to win GOP nomination for Ohio Senate. ✅ pic.twitter.com/0IYf0aCJxb

— Election Wizard 🇺🇸 (@ElectionWiz) May 4, 2022

Vance was a distant third but surged into a dead heat the last week or so, following a big endorsement from former-President Donald Trump. In a show of political force, that endorsement appears to have saved Vance’s campaign, now positioning him as the favorite in the general election to be the next US senator from Ohio.

The outcome also represents a blow to those representing the establishment GOP, many of which rallied around Mike Dolan as the candidates made the last turn towards primary election day. Tales of Dolan gaining momentum were obviously greatly exaggerated given it appears he will finish third in the race. There was also word that former Ohio state Treasurer Josh Mandel, who had previously run–and lost–against long-time Democrat incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown for Senate, expected to receive the Trump nod.

Some Republicans have preached doom about Vance possibly winning the seat due to some of his more populist views, but I believe that’s overblown. We heard many of the same things about Sen. Josh Hawley’s ascension, and that’s worked out just fine. The establishment always freaks out whenever someone comes to Washington who isn’t in total lockstep with them. I expect Vance to settle in and make his mark while still being a productive member of the Senate.