JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, spoke in Tucson to discuss the border, the economy and former President Donald Trump's candidacy.
Vance's appearance on Oct. 22 at the Pima County Fairgrounds came two days before Trump's rally at the ASU Mullett Arena.
READ MORE: Former President Trump to host rally at Mullett Arena on Thursday
College Republicans at Arizona State University member Hunter Tierney, a sophomore studying communication, said the appeal of Vance is that he can relate to younger voters.
"Since he is the youngest, I think a lot of young voters will be able to understand where he's coming from," Tierney said. "Gen Z is the biggest generation for our future."
"You know what Donald Trump and I are betting on?" Vance said. "We're betting on the American people to be smart and patriotic."
Vance followed speeches from two border patrol agents from the National Border Patrol Council, the Chair of Arizona GOP Gina Swoboda and U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
Carson Carpenter, the president of College Republicans at ASU and a senior studying political science, said both of the presidential tickets could better appeal to the youth vote if they add a younger person to their potential administration.
"I think (a way) for them to be more appealing to college voters is definitely ... with who they're going to have in their administration to represent the youth," Carpenter said. "They could go the next step and just really introduce how they're going to have those (younger) people serve."
The vice presidential candidate made his appearance a 30-minute drive away from UA.
"If we all get out there and vote we're going to win this race and Donald Trump's going to be the president of the United States," Vance said. "That's a pretty damn good thing."
Edited by Sophia Ramirez, Sophia Braccio and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at alysa.horton@gmail.com and follow @alysa_horton on X.
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Alysa is a senior studying journalism and mass communication with a minor in political science. This is her fifth semester with The State Press. She has also worked at The Arizona Republic.
