By Jordan Wilcox
Assistant Publisher
Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, JD Vance, stopped in Allegan County last Tuesday, October 29th, for a campaign rally in Fillmore Township.
Hundreds gathered at Holland Equipment Services, located at 4203 Blue Star Highway, just outside of Holland’s city limits, to see the Ohio Senator speak.
The event began with speeches from Gerald Ford’s grandson, Jonathan Ford; former congressman and current Michigan GOP Chair, Peter Hoekstra; U.S. Representative, Bill Huizenga, and a few others.
When JD Vance finally took the stage, his opening remarks were optimistic and jovial.
“I’ve got some good news: In seven short days, we’re going to make Donald J. Trump the next president of the United States. That’s pretty fun!”
Then, he marched on through important topics of this election and this area: the auto industry, immigration, the economy, energy policy, and government spending. He touched upon each one, explaining and praising his running mate’s policies, while bashing his opponents’.
“It’s very, very simple. We’ve got two choices to discuss. We’ve got a pathway of higher grocery prices, higher housing prices, a wide-open southern border. and then we’ve got the Donald J. Trump pathway of peace, prosperity and an affordable American dream.”
“In a lot of ways, I’ve got the easiest job in American politics because all that I have to do is remind people that Donald J. Trump was the president of peace and the president of prosperity. I get to remind people that when Donald J. Trump was president, inflation was at 1.5% — that’s pretty good. I get to remind people that when Donald J. Trump was president, we had the fastest rising take-home pay in a generation in the United States of America. And I get to remind the American people that when Donald J. Trump was president, the border was secure, and our country was safe.”
“Kamala Harris broke it, and Donald J. Trump will fix it.”
“Kamala Harris is more of the same – more of the broken border policies, more of the unaffordable groceries and unaffordable housing, more of the broken leadership. And I think that we ought to say to Kamala Harris, ‘You are fired!”
Later into his speech, Vance’s focus shifted away from political policies, and more towards getting people out to the polls. He urged every attendee to vote and vote early.
“Check about where you can get a ballot, where you vote early, check your polling locations, and use every method you can to get out there and vote – whether that’s before Election Day or on Election Day. We’ve got to bank as many votes as possible because we want to swamp the vote as much as possible and make this thing, as President Trump said, too big to rig.”
“I want every single person in this beautiful facility, every single one of us, to get out there and vote 10 times. Take yourself to the polls and take nine of your friends and family with you.”
This rally was Vance’s fifth in West Michigan. However, it was the first visit to Allegan County by any of the nominees for president or vice president in the 2024 election cycle. The second closest was another JD Vance in Byron Center in August.
