Republicans named Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday to lead the party’s fund-raising operation as it gears up for the 2026 midterm elections, a posting that could also help him position himself for the 2028 Republican presidential primary race.
Mr. Vance will serve as the finance chair of the Republican National Committee, an unusual arrangement for a sitting vice president. In both national parties, the finance chair role has typically gone to a reliable party fund-raiser who has time on his or her hands, not someone with significant governing responsibilities.
The R.N.C. said that Mr. Vance would be the first sitting vice president to serve in that role. In a statement, President Trump praised Mr. Vance as someone who “knows how to fight and win tough races” and said he would do a “fantastic job.”
“To fully enact the MAGA mandate and President Trump’s vision that voters demanded, we must keep and grow our Republican majorities in 2026,” Mr. Vance said in a statement. He pledged to “build the war chest we need to deliver those victories next November.”
At this early juncture, Mr. Vance is widely considered one of the strongest contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028. His new fund-raising role will give him a great deal of face time with the sort of heavyweight Republican donors who could bankroll a national campaign.
Mr. Vance has had significant relationships with some conservative donors, particularly in Silicon Valley, including Peter Thiel, who was also at one point Mr. Vance’s employer. But he has not always been universally embraced by the party’s contributor class: Some G.O.P. donors have recoiled from some of his positions on foreign affairs and trade.
Still, Mr. Vance was a workhorse for Mr. Trump on the fund-raising trail after he joined the national ticket, headlining many events in smaller cities that would not raise enough to be worth Mr. Trump’s time as the presidential nominee.
Mr. Trump has not wanted for cash since his victory. He has continued to raise money for his political committees and presidential library, including from business leaders eager to get on the good side of his administration.
Mr. Vance will take over as finance chairman from Duke Buchan III, an investment banker and early Trump backer who served as ambassador to Spain in the first Trump administration and was nominated this month to serve as ambassador to Morocco.
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