Vice President JD Vance campaigned in Iowa on Friday, a state President Donald Trump won by double digits that is now home to competitive Senate and gubernatorial contests, and made a populist pitch for Iowa values.
But Republican Senate nominee Rep. Ashley Hinson was not at the Council Bluffs event, and Vance barely mentioned her race. In a roughly 30-minute speech, he asked the crowd if they would elect Hinson, his only reference to the three-term congresswoman or her contest. The speech heavily touted the GOP nominee for governor and the solidly red 4th Congressional District. Hinson, a former journalist who first made headlines when she unseated an incumbent Democrat in 2020, is running against Josh Turek, a state legislator and former Paralympian. A Democrat has not won a Senate race in Iowa since 2008, but the party is looking to capitalize on voter discontent and economic anxieties. Trump's decision to curb tariffs on imported beef has been resonant in Iowa, one of the nation's largest beef producers.
Hinson appears to be among Republicans in tightening races trying to distance herself from the unpopular president. She has spoken out against Trump's beef policy. Her campaign released a new ad this week highlighting her efforts to reach across the aisle. A new CNN analysis shows Trump has seldom been mentioned in Republican ads more broadly in recent weeks. On Friday, she did not attend the Council Bluffs event; a spokesperson pointed to previously scheduled events, according to the New York Times. CNN has reached out to Hinson's campaign.
Hours after Vance's remarks, Trump posted a video statement with his Complete and Total Endorsement of Hinson's candidacy, taking the rare step of posting the message on both Truth Social and X. Speaking in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump gave a somewhat candid assessment of the midterms, telling reporters he believes the November elections will be pretty close and that he hopes Republicans do well.
Vance's trip to Iowa was the latest in a series of swings across the country, from Kansas earlier this week to Michigan, Maine and Ohio last month. As in recent appearances, he put some stylistic and tonal distance between himself and the president, acknowledging to voters that there is still a lot of work to do while touting administration accomplishments and potentially laying the groundwork for a return to Iowa as a future presidential candidate. Tailoring his message to the agricultural state, Vance emphasized American food, including cutting regulations for farmers and boosting exports of beef, dairy and corn.
He also nationalized the stakes of the November midterms, warning the crowd that Democratic leaders believe the country needs to be utterly transformed and that ordinary men and women in states like Iowa are standing in the way. He alluded to Democratic nominees in the Kansas and Michigan Senate races, but not in Iowa. He never named Turek.
Iowa, which Trump carried by 13 points in 2024, has been reliably red in recent years. But Hinson's race is rated Tilt Republican by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. The governor's race between Democrat Rob Sand, the state auditor, and Republican businessman and farmer Zach Lahn has also proven competitive and is rated Tilt Democratic by Inside Elections. Vance spent a significant portion of his speech rallying for Lahn and attacking Sand as far left and a career politician. Sand, the only Democrat to hold statewide office, has a long track record of winning elections in Iowa. In his closing pitch, Vance said voters had an opportunity to send not just Sand but the entire Democratic Party a message and urged them to vote Zach Lahn in November.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.
Source: CNN Lite
