JD Vance’s VP nomination could give bump to Democrats’ narrow Senate majority

Sen. J.D. Vance’s (R-OH) nomination as former President Donald Trump’s running mate means Senate Democrats will likely have more, albeit small, breathing room with their razor-thin majority during tight votes.

There’s a long history of senators from both sides of the aisle with presidential and vice presidential aspirations being chronically absent from their chamber. Those who have run for president or been on their party’s ticket throughout U.S. history have largely put their day jobs on the back burner, participating in fewer Senate votes and crisscrossing the country for campaign events more.

In today’s Senate, that could have significant ramifications in a chamber Democrats control by just one seat. Although there are limited days in session between now and Election Day in order to give incumbents ample campaign opportunity, crucial votes such as funding the government still lay ahead in the coming months.

Senate Democrats will have a little more wiggle room when it comes to party-line votes, such as on controversial judicial nominees, that offer vulnerable incumbents the opportunity to buck President Joe Biden without broader implications.

Vance’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the senator’s plans to balance his Senate job with his campaign schedule.

But looking at the attendance record of past senators who were on their party’s ticket as the vice presidential nominee, Vance would not be out of step with predecessors if he missed half or more of future votes.

From July through September of 2008, when Biden was running for vice president while holding his senate seat in Delaware, he missed roughly 28% of Senate votes, according to data from the Congress-tracking site GovTrack.

Since taking office in January 2023 until present day, Vance has missed approximately 7% of votes.

From July through September of 2016, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), then-vice presidential nominee, missed 44% of votes. Vice President Kamala Harris, as a California senator, was absent for 62% of votes from July through September of 2020 when she was on the ticket.

During the same months in 1992, then-Sen. Al Gore (D-TN), tapped as former President Bill Clinton’s running mate, missed more than 84% of votes. In 1988, former President George H. W. Bush’s vice presidential nominee, then-Sen. Dan Quayle (R-IN) missed about 24% of votes.

In election years, Congress is often on recess for the majority, if not all, of October in the final days of campaigning before voters hit the polls in November.