Michi­gan Repub­li­cans shrug off Vance Ohio rib­bing in must-win state

GRAND RAPIDS, Michi­gan — Repub­li­can vice pres­i­den­tial nom­i­nee J.D. Vance’s sto­ry of over­com­ing per­son­al hard­ship was one of the rea­sons for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump tapped him to become his run­ning mate, with the hope peo­ple in the mid­west­ern bat­tle­ground states, includ­ing Michi­gan, would relate to him.
Although the 39-year-old Ohio senator’s nom­i­na­tion accep­tance speech last week at the Repub­li­can Nation­al Con­ven­tion was pep­pered with quips at Michi­gan, par­tic­u­lar­ly regard­ing foot­ball, Michi­gan Repub­li­cans do not appear to mind.
“It’s all fun and games,” Jill Kindig, a Brighton, Michi­gan, res­i­dent, told the Wash­ing­ton Exam­in­er on Sat­ur­day out­side Trump’s ral­ly in Grand Rapids, his first since last week’s assas­si­na­tion attempt in But­ler, Penn­syl­va­nia and Vance’s first as a vice pres­i­den­tial can­di­date.
“They have that joke all the time,” Sier­ra Ack­er­man, an Ohio res­i­dent who came to Michi­gan for the event, said out­side Van Andel Are­na down­town.
“That’s been going on for years on top of years,” David Mar­tinez, a Muskegon, Michi­gan, res­i­dent, added. “I …