Vice President JD Vance delivered remarks on the economy Friday in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in a newly redrawn congressional district seen as competitive for the Republican Party in the November midterms.
Watch Vance speak in the video player above.
Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and ex-Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley each won their party’s U.S. Senate nominations in North Carolina last week, setting them up for a fall campaign that could determine control of Congress’ upper chamber.
READ MORE: Takeaways from the first elections of 2026 midterms
Whatley and Cooper are seeking the seat being vacated by Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who chose last June not to seek a third term. The two announced their campaigns weeks later and easily won their respective primary elections over crowded fields.
Cooper’s candidacy brought optimism to Democrats aiming to take back the Senate this year with a net gain of four seats. Whatley, who is also a former state Republican chairman, entered the race when President Donald Trump endorsed him after Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, declined to run.
North Carolina, a traditional battleground where Democrats have been able to hold the governor’s seat even as voters helped send Trump to the White House, was one of three states kicking off this year’s midterm elections, along with Texas and Arkansas, on March 3.
