JD Vance to visit Plover to tout Trump administration accomplishments

Plover is located within Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District, which has been represented by Republican Derrick Van Orden since 2023.

Erik Pfantz

• Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to visit a manufacturing facility in Plover.
• The visit follows President Donald Trump's State of the Union address to celebrate the administration's accomplishments in its first year.
• Plover is in Wisconsin's competitive Third Congressional District, represented by Republican Derrick Van Orden.
• The district is a key target for Democrats in the upcoming partisan election.

PLOVER – Vice President JD Vance will visit a manufacturing facility in Plover on Feb. 26.

Vance is expected to deliver remarks in celebration of accomplishments of President Donald Trump’s administration almost two days after Trump delivered the first State of the Union speech of his second term, according to a Feb. 25 news release.

Plover is located within Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District, which has been represented by Republican Derrick Van Orden since 2023. Van Orden, a retired Navy SEAL, was the first Republican to win the district in 26 years.

The seat is a target for the national Democratic Party to flip in this fall’s partisan election as Van Orden won by less than three points in the 2024 election against Democratic Party candidate Rebecca Cooke. The national-level party announced earlier this week that it would commit more resources to flipping two Congressional seats in Wisconsin, including the Third District seat.

Cooke has received significantly more campaign donations than newcomer challenger Emily Berge, according to recently filed campaign finance documents. The deadline to file declarations of candidacy and nomination papers for the race is June 1, according to state statute.

President Trump endorsed Van Orden, a vocal supporter of his agenda, in the 2026 competition 10 months ago.

A Vance spokesperson said the vice president would argue that wages are up, inflation is down and American workers are better off today than they were under former President Joe Biden.

The visit to the Wisconsin is one of the first domestic trips that Vance has made this year. In January, he visited Toledo, Ohio, and Minneapolis amid a standoff between state and local officials over the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations.

Vance is also the Republican Party's national finance chair and held fundraising events last month in Naples and Miami Beach, Florida.

Travel conditions to and from the event in Plover should be clear despite possible morning flurries as daytime temperatures are expected to be above freezing, according to the National Weather Service in Green Bay.

Erik Pfantz covers local government and education in central Wisconsin for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and values his background as a rural Wisconsinite. Contact him at *[email protected]*.