Vice presidential candidate JD Vance spent the night in Des Moines before holding a Tuesday morning roundtable fundraiser, according to a source familiar with his plans.
Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio, is former President Donald Trump’s running mate in the 2024 election. He stayed at the Hotel Fort Des Moines before holding the fundraiser at the Tea Room, an event space in downtown Des Moines.
A Trump-Vance staffer shared an invitation on social media that listed tickets for the fundraiser at $5,000 for an attendee, $15,000 to take a photo with Vance and attend a reception and $50,000 for an individual or $100,000 per couple to attend a roundtable discussion with the Republican vice presidential candidate.
Ticketholders could either give or raise the amount to attend, according to the invite.
Among the guests were U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and U.S. Reps. Ashley Hinson and Zach Nunn.
Vance’s motorcade pulled away from the building at 11:15 a.m. as a handful of onlookers gathered on the sidewalk and at the office building windows above to watch.
Seth Hall of Des Moines attended the roundtable event with Vance. He said Vance discussed how the campaign is going and took questions about the military, the border and health care issues.
“He’s so sharp on so many topics and his ability to field these questions and to actually have answers that he’s thought through, it’s not shooting from the hip,” Hall said. “It’s just impressive to see someone who knows what they’re talking about, is passionate about what they’re talking about and isn’t just reading from a teleprompter.”
Trump won Iowa during his 2016 and 2020 bids for president and Republicans expect he will win the state again this year.
Trump and Vance have not visited Iowa since Trump won the state’s Republican caucuses in January. President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also have not visited Iowa since the general election season began.
Vance was in Minneapolis Monday for another private fundraiser at Omni Viking Lakes Hotel in Eagan on the outskirts of the city. He later toured a portion of the city that was burned during the 2020 riots following the murder of George Floyd.
A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll from September found Trump leading Harris 47% to 43%. While Trump maintains his lead, the poll shows a closer race than in June, when Trump led Biden by 18 percentage points.
USA TODAY network reporter Sam Woodward contributed to this story.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She is also covering the 2024 presidential race for USA TODAY as a senior national campaign correspondent. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance attends private Iowa fundraiser
