Vance campaigns in red Iowa but barely mentions competitive Senate race

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Vice President JD Vance hit the trail in Iowa Friday — a state his boss won by double digits that’s now home to competitive Senate and gubernatorial contests — and made a populist pitch for “Iowa values.”

Except the Republican nominee for Senate, Rep. Ashley Hinson, wasn’t there, and the vice president barely mentioned her race.

“A shout out to an amazing public servant — I know she couldn’t be here today, but are we going to elect Ashley Hinson the next United States senator for the great state of Iowa?” Vance asked a crowd in Council Bluffs.

It was his only reference to the three-term congresswoman or her race in a 30-minute stump speech that heavily touted the GOP nominee for governor and the solidly red 4th Congressional District.

Hinson, a former journalist who first made headlines when she ousted an incumbent Democrat in 2020, is running against Josh Turek, a state legislator and former Paralympian. A Democrat hasn’t won a Senate race in the Hawkeye State since 2008, but the party is looking to capitalize on voter discontent and economic anxieties. President Donald Trump’s decision to curb tariffs on imported beef has been resonant in Iowa, which is among the nation’s largest beef producers.

And Hinson appears to be among the Republicans in tightening races who’s trying to put some distance between herself and 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, which comes as a new CNN analysis shows that Trump has seldom been mentioned in Republican ads more broadly in recent weeks.

Then on Friday, she didn’t attend the Council Bluffs event, with a spokesperson pointing to previously scheduled events, according to the New York Times .

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 platforms.

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.”

“I hope the Republicans are gonna do well,” he said. “It’s gonna be pretty close.”

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 he has in recent appearances , the vice president 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 placed special emphasis on “American food” — including cutting regulations for farmers and boosting exports of beef, dairy and corn.

But he also nationalized the stakes of the November midterms, warning the crowd that Democratic leaders believe “this country needs to be utterly transformed — and it’s ordinary men and women in states like Iowa who 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. It’s 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.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you have an opportunity to send not just Rob Sand but the entire Democrat Party a message: Check the crazy at the door, and learn to fight for Americans for a change. Vote Zach Lahn in November,” he said in his closing pitch.

CNN’s Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.

安娜·莫尼梅克/盖蒂图片社

副总统 JD Vance 周五前往爱荷华州进行竞选活动——他的老板以两位数的优势赢得了该州，而现在该州正在进行竞争激烈的参议院和州长竞选——并发表了关于“爱荷华价值观”的民粹主义演讲。

但共和党参议员候选人、众议员阿什利·欣森没有到场，副总统也几乎没有提及她的竞选。

“我要向一位杰出的公职人员致敬——我知道她今天无法到场，但我们是否要选举阿什利·欣森成为爱荷华州下一任美国参议员？”万斯在康瑟尔布拉夫斯向人群问道。

在长达 30 分钟的竞选演讲中，他只提到了这位连任三届的女议员或她的竞选，而演讲的主要内容是共和党州长候选人和铁杆共和党选区——第四国会选区。

曾任记者的欣森在2020年击败一位现任民主党参议员后一举成名，此次她将与州议员、前残奥会运动员乔什·图雷克竞选参议员。自2008年以来，民主党就未曾在爱荷华州赢得过参议员席位，但该党正试图利用选民的不满和经济焦虑来赢得选举。特朗普总统削减进口牛肉关税的决定在爱荷华州引起了强烈反响，因为爱荷华州是美国最大的牛肉生产州之一。

而欣森似乎是选情胶着的共和党候选人之一，她正试图与不受欢迎的总统保持距离。

她曾公开反对特朗普的牛肉政策。本周，她的竞选团队发布了一则新广告，重点宣传她为争取跨党派支持所做的努力。与此同时，CNN的一项最新分析显示，近几周来，共和党的竞选广告中很少提及特朗普。

据《纽约时报》报道，周五，她没有出席在康瑟尔布拉夫斯举行的活动，一位发言人解释说，这是因为她之前已经安排了其他活动。

在万斯发表讲话几个小时后，特朗普发布了一段视频声明，表示“完全彻底地支持”欣森的候选资格，并罕见地在 Truth Social 和 X 平台上同时发布了该消息。

周五，特朗普在椭圆形办公室发表讲话，对中期选举做出了较为坦率的评估，他告诉记者，他认为11月的选举结果将“非常接近”。

“我希望共和党能取得好成绩，”他说。“选情会非常胶着。”

万斯此次爱荷华之行是他近期一系列全国巡回访问的最新一站——从本周早些时候的堪萨斯州，到上个月的密歇根州、缅因州和俄亥俄州。正如他最近几次公开露面一样，这位副总统在风格和语气上与总统保持了一定的距离，他向选民承认“还有很多工作要做”，同时大力宣传政府的政绩，并可能为未来以总统候选人的身份重返爱荷华州铺路。

为了迎合农业大州的口味，万斯特别强调“美国食品”，包括减少对农民的监管，并促进牛肉、乳制品和玉米的出口。

但他也强调了11月中期选举的重要性，警告在场民众，民主党领导人认为“这个国家需要彻底变革——而阻碍变革的正是像爱荷华州这样的普通民众”。他提到了堪萨斯州和密歇根州参议员竞选的民主党候选人，但没有提及爱荷华州的候选人。他始终没有点名图雷克。

2024年特朗普以13个百分点的优势赢得爱荷华州，近年来该州一直是共和党的传统票仓。但据《内幕选举》（Inside Elections）的内森·L·冈萨雷斯（Nathan L. Gonzales）称，欣森的竞选“倾向共和党”。州长竞选——在民主党候选人、州审计长罗布·桑德（Rob Sand）和共和党商人兼农场主扎克·拉恩（Zach Lahn）之间展开——也竞争激烈。《内幕选举》将其评为“倾向民主党”。

万斯在演讲中用了相当多的篇幅为拉恩摇旗呐喊，并攻击桑德是“极左派”和“职业政客”。桑德是唯一一位担任过州级公职的民主党人，在爱荷华州有着长期的选举胜利记录。

“女士们先生们，你们有机会向罗布·桑德乃至整个民主党发出一个信息：把疯狂抛在脑后，学会为美国人民而战，做出改变。请在11月投票给扎克·拉恩，”他在最后的演讲中说道。

CNN的杰夫·泽莱尼对本报道亦有贡献。