Former Vice President Mike Pence is heading to Wichita, Kansas, to campaign for Derek Schmidt in the state’s extremely close gubernatorial race.
Pence, who was vice president under former President Donald Trump, will attend the B&C Barbeque with Schmidt on Oct. 21. Pence will be the “highest-profile Republican” to visit the state as Kansas attorney general campaigns to snag the governorship from Democrat incumbent Gov. Laura Kelly, The Kansas City Star reported Tuesday.
According to the report, Pence’s visit comes less than 30 days before the Nov. 8 election and less than a week after early voting ramps up. Republicans Sen. Jerry Moran and Reps. Ron Estes, Tracey Mann, and Jake LaTurner are expected to attend the event, the Schmidt campaign said.
“Kansans deserve better than the policies of Joe Biden and Laura Kelly that have made life less affordable and less safe,” Schmidt said in a statement. “We need the type of strong commonsense, America First leadership Vice President Pence provided alongside President Trump and that’s what we will do for Kansans in the Schmidt administration.”
Pence said in a statement that he believe Schmidt will “lead the state back to prosperity.” His trip will follow visits from other high-profile Republicans, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
“Derek Schmidt has been a champion for Kansas, and I know he will continue to listen to Kansans and lead the state back to prosperity,” he said. “I look forward to joining Derek and meeting Wichita voters to discuss our shared conservative values and vision for Kansas’s future.”
Kelly and Schmidt are running an extremely close race, a late September survey from Emerson College Polling/The Hill showing Kelly with a two-point lead over Trump-endorsed Schmidt, 45 percent to 43 percent. The Credibility Interval (CI), which is similar to a margin of error, is ±3 percentage points, meaning Kelly and Schmidt are in a statistical tie.