Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance will headline a rally in Valdosta on Thursday, the same night as Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepts the Democratic nomination at the party’s Chicago convention.
Vance has shadowed Harris and her newly minted running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on a tour of battleground states since President Joe Biden withdrew from the race.
The trip, confirmed by campaign officials, will be Vance’s second visit to Georgia since Donald Trump tapped the Ohio Republican as his No. 2. Vance’s last visit in early August was overshadowed by Trump’s renewed feud with Gov. Brian Kemp and other state Republicans.
Valdosta is the heart of a deep-red stretch of south Georgia where Trump and his allies are hoping to drive up conservative turnout. Trump has held several rallies in the area over his last two campaigns, but this is the first of this cycle.
It’s part of a blitz of GOP stops through the week as Democrats gathering in Chicago for the four-day nominating gala.
Trump and Vance will hold a joint rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, while Vance also has a separate trip planned for Wisconsin on Tuesday. Trump is headed to Arizona on Friday.
While Republicans dominated Valdosta‘s Lowndes County and the surrounding areas in 2020, the south Georgia city was also the site of an embarrassing moment for his campaign weeks ago.
