Depends on who you ask.

Since former President Donald Trump surprisingly named Vance, 40, a first-year U.S. Senator, as his running mate, the 2003 Middletown High School graduate has been criticized nationally by some Republicans and most Democrats. Some of the criticism with Republicans changed after Vance’s performance in the debate, where some political observers said he did well.

Vance, whose first solo rally as a vice presidential candidate drew a crowd that exceeded the space in the Middletown High School auditorium, has the support of many in his hometown. Streets in Middletown and throughout Butler County are lined with many more yard signs than the Democratic ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minn. Gov. Tim Walz.

That’s not surprising since Trump carried Butler County by more than 20 points in the last two presidential elections.

T. Duane Gordon, a longtime local philanthropic leader, said he’s a registered Republican who will be mostly voting for Democrats on Nov. 5. He called Vance the “biggest embarrassment ever to come out of Middletown.”

Gordon has criticized Vance’s best-selling book, “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis,” that was released in 2016. Gordon said he believes Vance misrepresented the city in the book.

“He hasn’t changed. He continues to fall for and amplify disproven urban legends like the ones about the Haitian migrants in Springfield eating pets. His lies cause real harm to real people he has taken an oath to serve, but they also make him a perfect partner for the country’s liar-in-chief, Donald Trump,” Gordon said.

Other people with ties to Middletown, like Butler County Auditor Nancy Nix, who lived in Middletown for 23 years, remain staunch Vance supporters.

Nix called Vance, whom she met at a Lincoln Day event in 2017, the “best possible candidate” to run on Trump’s ticket. She said Vance’s intellect and personality “made me a believer.”

Lori Meibers, whose sister is Vance’s mother, attended the GOP Convention in Milwaukee the night Vance was the keynote speaker.

”We always knew he was smart and destined for greatness,” Meibers said. “He speaks from the heart. He’s a normal, everyday guy. He’s very relatable.”

Throughout the campaign, Vance has talked about his mother’s drug addictions, numerous failed marriages and how his grandmother, whom he calls “mamaw,” was his guiding force.

“His whole life prepared him for this role,” his aunt, who still lives in the Middletown area, said. “JD is a survivor.”

Carolyn Dishun taught Vance in first grade at Roosevelt Elementary School and said Vance “rose above” his home life.

“He’s very determined,” said Dishun, 85, who taught for 30 years. “When he puts his mind to it, he goes after it.”

Expressing your opinions of Vance — positive or negative — can be costly, especially when you own a business in his hometown. You take a chance to alienate half of your customers.

Just ask Heather Gibson, owner of Triple Moon Coffee Shop in downtown.

Her restaurant was a popular hangout for Ron Howard when he was in town directing the Netflix version of “Hillbilly Elegy.” She didn’t want to express her opinions about Vance and his political views.

Then she changed her mind.

She wanted to address what she called “a divisive” issue in the community.

“I’ve lost friends over this, all over politics,” she said. “That’s ridiculous. It has gotten to the point of nastiness.”

Craig Baldwin, one of Vance’s closest high school friends, doesn’t talk about politics with Vance.

“We keep our lives separate when it comes to the political side of things,” said Baldwin, who was in Vance’s wedding and Vance was in his wedding.

Baldwin said when they attended Ohio State University together, Vance possessed “a level of discipline that was uncommon” for college students.

He always knew “good things were going to happen” to Vance, who served in the U.S. Marines during the Iraq War, graduated from OSU, and received his law degree from Yale Law School.

Another high school classmate, Josh Davenport, said he met Vance while playing high school golf. He said Vance’s rise in the political arena “goes to show what this town can actually do.”

He has read parts of “Hillbilly Elegy” and he understands why some residents took exception to Vance’s portrayal of Middletown.

“Everybody’s Middletown was different,” said Davenport, whose mother served as vice president of LexisNexis while Vance’s mother was battling drug addiction. “I never worried about a thing. He has succeeded on his own.”

What does the future hold?

Christopher Devine, associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton, is the author of “Do Running Mates Matter? The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections” (with Kyle C. Kopko) and “I’m Here to Ask for Your Vote: How Presidential Campaign Visits Influence Voters.”

Devine called Vance “the least-qualified vice presidential candidate in modern memory” because he was elected to public office for the first time in late 2022 when he won a high-profile Senate race, following a competitive Republican primary, on the strength of Trump’s coveted endorsement.

He said the role of the vice president is more important than ever because they’re the top adviser to the president. They’re the “last person” in the room when decisions are being finalized, Devine said.

Vance is “not mature as a political figure,” Devine said. “He’s not ready for prime time.”

But following the Vance-Walz debate that was nationally televised Tuesday night, the Trump-Vance campaign said “JD Vance wiped the floor with Tim Walz” and Vance “emerged victorious by a mile” at the debate.

Nix posted on Facebook early in the debate that Vance was “on fire! So proud of this man from Middletown!!”