Ohio Senator J.D. Vance has emerged as one of Donald Trump’s top surrogates on the campaign trail.

That also reportedly made him one of the Vice Presidential candidates the former President is eyeing as a potential running mate ahead of next month’s Republican National Convention. 

And J.D. Vance put Chuck Schumer on notice by picking one fight that could change everything. 

The Rust Belt will be the center of the political universe

As is essentially the case every four years, November’s Presidential election will be decided by a handful of battleground states that could seemingly go either way.

Three of those battleground states are in the Rust Belt – Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – and were crucial in both the 2016 and 2020 elections.

All three states flipped to President Joe Biden in 2020 after former President Donald Trump narrowly won them in 2016, and they’ll once again play a big role in 2024.

As of now, Trump has led a majority of the public polls that have been conducted in those states since last fall.

And in further proof of just how important those three states are, they could also play a crucial role in deciding which party controls the Senate moving forward.

All three of the Rust Belt battleground states have Democrat-held Senate seats that are up for grabs this November. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) holds a slim 51-49 advantage going into Election Day.

He could have his hands full playing defense in those states if one Republican Senator gets his way. 

Vance calls for Republicans to go on the offensive

Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) said that Senate Republicans needed to “run up the score” in the Senate races in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio, which he termed the “industrial Midwest.”

He told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that those states could help the GOP capture the White House and Senate.

“We really have to run up the score with a lot of voters who recognize that they have been left behind by the economic policies of Joe Biden,” Vance said. 

American manufacturing – which has an outsized presence in those states – is suffering from high energy prices under Biden.

“If you want to make things in the United States of America, the most important thing, Maria, is low-cost energy, and yet Joe Biden’s energy policies have been at war with workers in these states,” Vance explained.

Democrats have a slight edge in the Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania Senate races, according to recent polling.

“There’s a real opportunity for us to run up the score here to win those important electoral votes, but to also elect a few really good guys to the United States Senate,” Vance said. 

“And I think that is the most important part of our country, those three states in the Industrial Midwest,” he added.

Of course, Vance is also reportedly on Trump’s Vice Presidential running mate shortlist.

But he downplayed that possibility when he was asked about it recently.

“Yes, Maria, we have had some conversations with the Trump team, but I have actually not spoke about the Vice Presidential thing with the president directly,” Vance stated. “And, until I do, I sort of assume this is a lot of media speculation.”

The road to the White House and control of the Senate could run through the Rust Belt this election.