Vice President JD Vance makes second visit to Kansas
Visit comes as Republicans struggle for votes in midterm election
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Sign up freeTOPEKA, Kan. — About 1,500 people attended Vice President JD Vance’s rally at the HME Inc. factory to hear him speak about gas prices, manufacturing and the midterm election.
Vance arrived to speak eight days before the midterm election to support the Kansas Republican candidates, continuing to endorse Sen. Roger Marshall in a tight Senate race with Democratic nominee Adam Hamilton.
According to one of the event staffers, it was one of the biggest crowds she has seen in Kansas. Attendees continued to pour into the warehouse as representatives were speaking, and four people were escorted out by security for counter-protesting throughout the event.
Several Kansas Republicans, including Kris Kobach, Ty Masterson, Tracey Mann and Derek Schmidt, spoke about the race.
The visit, the second this election season, comes as Kansas Republicans face tighter than expected races. Marshall’s race with Hamilton is currently rated by political rating agencies as a toss-up, while Masterson’s gubernatorial campaign against Cindy Holscher was changed to toss-up the day after the rally. Even Schmidt’s re-election campaign in the second congressional district against Don Coover was moved from safely Republican to likely Republican.
President Donald Trump has already visited Kansas once, and is expected to campaign again in Salina on Oct. 31. Between 2016-2020, Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence visited Kansas a total of four times to campaign.
Marshall came on to the stage and talked about issues such as “radical Islam” in Western Europe, immigration and trans issues in Kansas.
"Radical Islam is the most immediate threat to American democracy and freedom. We’re seeing in real time in France what happens when weak leaders capitulate to radical Islam," Marshall said. "Make no mistake about what’s happening in Western Europe right now: radical Islam is trying to erase Western civilization from the history books. And it is the result of open borders and amnesty policies just like the ones Adam Hamilton supported in the Obama administration."
Marshall said that this was a result of having open borders, which he said Hamilton is a supporter of. Hamilton has repeatedly denied this accusation.
Before the rally, Hamilton released a video addressing the Vice President and Marshall.
“Rather than attacking our church, Roger Marshall should explain why he’s repeatedly voted to stay in Iran while six-dollar diesel crushes our farmers,” Hamilton said. “Why he backs the tariffs driving up costs for all Kansans. Why he voted to cut healthcare funding for one in 60 people in Kansas.”
Vance walked on stage supporting the current Senator against Hamilton and briefly speaking on new manufacturing opportunities in Kansas.
“Whenever Roger Marshall is given a choice between the lobbyist and the people of Kansas– I have seen it– he fights every time,” Vance said.
Vance also announced that new grants from the Department of Agriculture will be worth millions of dollars for 10 new meatpacking facilities in Kansas. He then ended his speech discussing the rising gas prices.
“When I hear Democrats talking about gas prices I think it takes a certain amount of audacity for Democrats to say that they've done anything to make this country more energy resilient,” Vance said. “They haven’t. Their policies are the reason that these Middle Eastern dictators even control our lives in the first place."
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