Vance draws 2028 buzz at Ohio midterm rally as Republican prospects in the state tighten

Mixed · 2US Vice President JD Vance headlined a rally on Friday in Lima, Ohio, intended to support Republican candidates in the 3 November midterm elections, but AFP reported it looked more like a Vance rally than a candidates' event. 1 2 Mixed · 2He arrived on Air Force Two, was received with cheers in an airport hangar, and went down to greet the crowd, including a woman in a "Vance 2028" cap; he has not declared that he will run for president. 1 2 Mixed · 2Asked how important winning Ohio was for a presidential run, Vance said he thought it "has nothing to do with 2028" and was about how the country is governed over the next two years and beyond. 1 2

Mixed · 2AFP says polls show Trump's unpopularity, the Iran war and the cost of living could cost Republicans their congressional majority, and that Ohio, which voted for Trump in the last three presidential elections, is now one of the tightest battlegrounds. 1 2 Mixed · 2Close races include Vance's old Senate seat, held by Jon Husted, and the governorship, where former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is standing; Trump visited days earlier and, at 80, is due back next week. 1 2 Mixed · 2AFP says losing Ohio could damage Vance's political brand, built on the blue-collar roots described in his memoir "Hillbilly Elegy", while for Trump losing Congress could mean two years of Democratic-led investigations. 1 2

Mixed · 2AFP calls Vance, 42, widely considered the frontrunner to be Trump's heir but says it is far from a done deal; Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he won't run against Vance, though his speech in Athens was widely seen as a pitch for the job. 1 2 Mixed · 2Vance is bringing his family on the trail, flying with his wife Usha, three of their four children and their dog to Cincinnati, where he cast an early vote, and he raises money as finance chair of the Republican National Committee. 1 2 Mixed · 2AFP says he is trying to avoid being tied to the outgoing president's policies, as Kamala Harris was in 2024, by speaking of families' financial woes even as Trump dismisses an "affordability hoax", and by staking out positions of his own. 1 2

Mixed · 2On Friday Vance also distanced himself from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth over an announced livestream of a US military firing squad execution, saying "I don't know that that's going to happen" and that he would not watch it. 1 2