(Reuters) - Donald Trump on Friday endorsed author J.D. Vance in the Republican Senate primary in Ohio amid a crowded race marked by negativity as many candidates have tried to ally themselves with the former president.
The winner of the May 3 primary will represent the party in the Nov. 8 midterm elections that will determine control of Congress, where the Republicans are expected to make gains off President Joe Biden's Democrats.
"Like some others, J.D. Vance may have said some not so great things about me in the past, but he gets it now, and I have seen that in spades," Trump said in a statement.
Rivals in the contest include former state Treasurer Josh Mandel, former state Republican Chair Jane Timken, financier Mike Gibbons and state lawmaker Matt Dolan.
The winner will likely face U.S. Representative Tim Ryan, who is expected to win the Democratic nomination.
While some candidates actively seek Trump's endorsements to tap into his base, they are sometimes designed to seek revenge on Republicans who failed to support him previously and have not always made the handpicked candidate the favorite.
Vance is a Yale-educated lawyer and venture capitalist who published the bestselling memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" in 2016. Initially a Trump critic, Vance visited Trump's Florida resort last year to meet with the former president, who won Ohio by eight percentage points in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
A recent move to endorse celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania divided local party officials and stunned close advisers, two sources familiar with the internal deliberations told Reuters.