KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Vice President Vance on Monday stumped in a newly redrawn Missouri congressional district that Republicans hope will deliver them an additional House seat in the midterms, a prize that could prove decisive in a chamber with razor-thin margins.
The vice president initially referred to the seat as "open" during remarks at a manufacturing company, but Missouri's 5th district has been represented by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver since 2005. Cleaver now faces six Republican challengers.
At one point, Vance asked the crowd to identify the GOP candidate in the race. When someone shouted an inaudible response, Vance replied, "We're rooting for any good Republican." Then, asking about the Democratic opponent, a voice from the crowd yelled "Cleaver." Vance responded, "I don't know who that is."
Missouri is one of several red states that, at President Trump's direction, redrew their congressional maps to favor Republicans. Last week, the state's Supreme Court unanimously upheld the new GOP map, rejecting legal challenges. The redrawing is part of a broader national redistricting battle that has drawn charges of racial gerrymandering from Democrats.
Vance defended the new map on racial grounds, saying, "We had that great Supreme Court case that said a crazy thing, like maybe we shouldn't discriminate against people based on race, right, very common sense. Maybe we should build our congressional districts to represent people rather than representing racial groups."
The vice president turned his fire on congressional Democrats, accusing them of disrespecting Trump during his State of the Union address. He pointed to Democratic lawmakers who did not stand to applaud guests brought by the White House, including a six-year-old girl wounded by an illegal immigrant. "You got to ask yourself, what's wrong with a party that will not stand up and cheer for a 6-year-old little girl who's been wounded by an illegal alien criminal," Vance said.
Before the rally, Vance attended a Republican National Committee fundraiser in Kansas City. While Trump has made fewer in-person campaign stops, Vance has been the administration's leading surrogate—traveling to Maine, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Iowa in recent weeks. Trump, meanwhile, issued a cascade of endorsements in Pennsylvania House races on Truth Social just before Vance's speech.
Despite the GOP's redistricting gains, public opinion remains a headwind. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday pegged Trump's approval rating at a new low of 37 percent, with 59 percent disapproving. Still, Trump-backed candidates have continued to win primaries, and Vance brushed aside speculation about a 2028 presidential run, saying, "There are few topics that I want to talk about less than what office I'm going to run for years down the road."
Vance closed by urging the crowd to vote against Democratic incumbents: "If you want to rebuild the American dream for the next generation, vote against the crazy leadership in Washington, D.C." He drew some of his loudest applause when discussing his role leading the White House's anti-fraud task force, joking, "Fighting fraud in Washington DC is a little bit like fishing in a barrel with a nuclear weapon."
