Trump Heads to Ohio as Vance Courts North Carolina Senate Vote

President Donald Trump travels to Ohio on Wednesday, his third visit to the state in a month, while former President Barack Obama campaigns in Georgia. The stops come with less than a week before the Nov. 3 midterms.

Trump is concentrating on states he carried two years ago as voters weigh record fuel prices, rising costs and the war in Iran. Vice President JD Vance is in North Carolina, where Republicans have expressed pessimism about holding a Senate seat. Former national party chair Michael Whatley is running against Democrat Roy Cooper, a former governor, for the seat left open by retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.

The president's schedule also includes Mississippi on Monday and Texas on Tuesday, with stops planned in South Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Iowa in coming days. His travel reflects the party's defensive posture, and funding from the president's super PAC, MAGA Inc., has helped sustain candidates.

Obama is appearing in Georgia alongside former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is running to become the first Black woman elected governor in the United States, and Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is seeking reelection. In Michigan recently, Obama criticized Trump over White House renovations and his personal wealth.

The Ohio ballot includes Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech executive, for governor and Sen. Jon Husted, who is running to fill the remainder of Vance's term. Former Sen. Sherrod Brown is the Democratic nominee for Senate. Ramaswamy faces Amy Acton, Ohio's former state health director.

A late-season Ramaswamy campaign ad has drawn criticism. Acton's mother, Donna Arthur, described her daughter as "a liar" who "needs help" and alleged a problem with honesty about her past. Arthur has not seen her daughter in nearly 50 years and lost custody of her children after her husband, their stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton when she was 12. Acton says she has not seen her mother since 1978. Trump backed the ad; Husted and other Republicans have distanced themselves from it.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to join Trump in Ohio, according to a senior U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the schedule was not public. Rubio appeared with Trump at two Tuesday events in Texas, where he made brief nonpolitical remarks about serving the country. Secretaries of state have traditionally avoided domestic politics for protocol and legal reasons. The Texas appearance coincided with an announcement about a major crude oil delivery from Venezuela.