 The freshman U.S. Senator was born and raised in Middletown, a city sandwiched between Dayton and Cincinnati in southwest Ohio. Although Vance's name had been on the VP pick shortlist, the news still came as a surprise to some of its residents, including Republican voter Janet Hyde-Menn. Well, I was astonished. I thought he was kind of young, but he has a lot of good things going for him, I think. I need to go back and read his book again.