Insiders predict Rust Belt Republican, possible Trump VP pick, could flip Biden votes in key swing states

Editor's note: This is the sixth in a series of profiles of potential running mates for presidential candidate Donald Trump on the 2024 Republican Party ticket.

The race to determine who will be Donald Trump's running mate this November is continuing to heat up, with the former president telling Fox News last week he has "sort of a pretty good idea" who he'll select.

The identity of that person remains a mystery, but a number of prospective contenders were recently asked to provide documents to Trump's team as part of the vetting process, including firebrand Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, who some insiders say could be the key to flipping working-class Democrat voters in a number of consequential battleground states.

"J.D. Vance has become a fixture on the road for Donald Trump and is extremely popular with the Trump base," one top GOP strategist told Fox News Digital, referencing Vance's frequent appearances with Trump on the campaign trail and beyond.

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"He would be a lot of help across the entire Rust Belt and could help pick up working-class Democrat votes in places even outside his own state of Ohio. He would be an asset everywhere, really, but especially in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin."

The three states mentioned were all won by Trump in 2016 when they constituted part of the so-called "blue wall" for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton but flipped to President Biden in 2020.

All three are once again taking center stage in the presidential race and could be the deciding factor for who wins the presidency this year. Vance's blue-collar upbringing, which he detailed in his bestselling 2016 memoir, "Hillbilly