What We Know About JD Vance's Half Brother, Cory Bowman

While Vice President JD Vance is trying to stay connected to President Donald Trump in the White House, his half-brother Cory Bowman is running for an office of his own. On February 4, 2025, Bowman announced he'd be campaigning to become Cincinnati's next mayor. "I knew the city where my family and I live and love cannot fall behind in the critical years ahead," he wrote on Instagram announcing his campaign. He hopes to provide the people of Cincinnati with a "choice to see years of prosperity, growth, and joy in our amazing downtown. A population ... should have the choice to decide their own future." Bowman grew up north of Cincinnati and moved back to the city in 2020 with his family. He's become something of a community fixture there between the church he and his wife founded after they moved and the coffee shop Bowman co-owns, Kings Arms Coffee.

Cincinnati has not had a Republican mayor since 1971 or a Republican candidate in the race since 2009, so Bowman may have a challenge ahead of him. Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Alex Linser threw not-so-subtle shade at Bowman when asked about his decision to run for mayor by The Cincinnati Enquirer. "The voters of Cincinnati have put a lot of trust in Democratic leaders. ... We don't need the kind of chaos that is coming out of the Trump presidency infiltrating City Hall."

The day after his announcement, Cory Bowman wrote on X that he couldn't stop thinking about the "words of encouragement from so many who love Cincinnati as much as [he does]." Some of those inspiring words came from his brother JD Vance, whom Bowman described as "an incredible role model of mine" when speaking with The Cincinnati Enquirer.

While they're half-siblings, Bowman and Vance didn't actually grow up together. They share a father, who put Vance up for adoption when he was just six. "[My father] became kind of a phantom for the next six years. ... He had a new wife, with two small children, and I'd been replaced," Vance wrote in his controversial memoir "Hillbilly Elegy." Bowman and Vance have become close, however, and Bowman has pinned a post of him and Vance to the top of his Instagram page. "I'm so thankful to the Lord for all that He's done and grateful that our whole family is able to celebrate [inauguration] together."