type: timeline_event Peter Thiel contributed $15 million to Protect Ohio Values PAC, a super PAC supporting J.D. Vance's bid for the Republican Senate nomination in Ohio, representing the largest single investment in a Senate primary race at that time. Vance, author of the memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" and a former Thiel Capital employee, had been a vocal critic of Donald Trump before transforming into a MAGA enthusiast. Despite polling poorly before the investment, Vance's campaign was transformed by the combination of Thiel's money—which funded an extensive advertising campaign—and a late Trump endorsement secured partly through Thiel's network.
Vance won the May 2022 Republican primary, defeating establishment-backed candidates Josh Mandel and Matt Dolan. The win demonstrated Thiel's ability to use concentrated financial investment to elevate preferred candidates in competitive primaries. The $15 million constituted approximately 75% of all pro-Vance super PAC spending and proved decisive in a state that might otherwise have nominated a more conventional conservative. Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and early Facebook investor who had become one of Silicon Valley's most prominent libertarian figures, simultaneously funded similar campaigns for Blake Masters in Arizona, representing his vision of placing ideologically aligned tech-adjacent politicians in the Senate.
The Thiel-Vance relationship predated the Senate race by years. Vance had worked at Thiel Capital and received Thiel's mentorship in establishing his career after his memoir's success. The investment was thus both a political bet and the culmination of a patron-protege relationship in which Thiel effectively purchased a Senate seat for an ally who would go on to be selected as Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate in 2024, placing Thiel's protege one heartbeat from the presidency.