In a strange similarity, both the Republican vice presidential nominee, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, and the Democratic nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, lost dramatic amounts of weight after winning elections and joining the government.
Vance has lost about 30 pounds since running for Senate in 2022, according to a new report. The Ohio senator, who spoke to a Daily Mail reporter onboard the private jet the Republican campaign is calling “Trump Force 2,” said he realized he needed to make a change after feeling out-of-breath playing with his children.
Vance said the noticeable weight loss was due to diet and exercise, and denied taking weight loss medication becoming more and more popular with the elite. “I haven’t taken any drugs,” Vance confirmed. The Ohio senator said it also came down to changing his eating habits. “I tend to skip breakfast, whereas before I would have, like, you know, three waffles and scrambled eggs and bacon,” Vance said.
JD Vance speaks to supporters at an election party after winning the primary in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. May 3, 2022.
Gaelen Morse/Reuters
However, the vice presidential hopeful also said the grueling 2024 campaign trail could take a toll on his health. “Time will tell man,” he told the Mail. “In three months, maybe I’ll be a lot fatter.”
It turns out, Walz went through a similar weight loss evolution after he won re-election to the House of Representatives in 2012. After setting a New Years Resolution in 2013, Walz shed a remarkable 85 pounds by recommitting to exercise, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported at the time.
The future Minnesota governor began biking and running, and eventually completed his first marathon in 2014. He is still an avid runner, and chronicled his love for the sport in a story published by Runners’ World in July.
Walz also joined a bipartisan running club with some of his Republican colleagues. “You see things a little differently, you meet people in a different setting,” Walz told the Star-Tribune in 2014. “Nobody boos you.”