HOLLAND, Mich. — A day of high winds in West Michigan on Tuesday seemed an apt representation of the months of whirlwind campaign in this critical swing region.
That day near the city of Holland, Republican vice presidential nominee and Ohio Senator J.D. Vance made what will likely be one of if not the last direct pitch to West Michigan voters.
Just one week ahead of Election Day, Vance touched heavily on the issues that have seemed to most buoy his ticket's message among voters and in the polls - things like the economy and immigration.
"Kamala Harris is more of the same - more of the broken border policies, more of the unaffordable groceries and unaffordable housing, more of the broken leadership," Vance told the crowd of hundreds at HES Equipment just outside the city limits. "And I think that we ought to say to Kamala Harris, 'You are fired.'"
His visit came as Michigan has already begun its first mandated, statewide early in-person voting period for a general election.
But where skepticism existed among many in the GOP just four years ago over early voting methods like mail-in voting and drop-box absentee voting, many have now sought to encourage voters to take up the option that's best for them.
"As President Trump has said, it is what it is," Vance said when asked by 13 ON YOUR SIDE about his thoughts on the system and seeming shift among some in the party. "And you can't have one campaign try to take advantage of every opportunity to vote - that being the Kamala Harris campaign. If that's going to happen, then the President Trump campaign has got to take advantage of every opportunity to vote, too."
"And that's all that's happened is I think that- you know, you don't have to agree with a particular change, but you've got to accept the rules as they're actually set for the game," he continued.
Democrats were quick to respond to the visit amid tight statewide polling in the race for the White House.
One local state lawmaker told 13 ON YOUR SIDE she believes the developing arguments of the GOP have fallen flat.
"At first, they were talking about, you know, Kamala Harris potentially not having done what she should have done on the border," State Rep. Carol Glanville (D-Walker) said. "Which, of course, is because Donald Trump killed the bipartisan border bill which would have provided, you know, the resources that we desperately need to start getting us on the right track with immigration."
The visit also comes as the campaign has faced scrutiny following former President Donald Trump's rally in New York on Sunday, where one speaker, a comedian, seemingly compared Puerto Rico to "a floating island of garbage."
It was one of multiple other comments made during the rally that many have labeled as overtly racist.
While many Democrats have believed this to be the common tone of the Trump campaign, Vance spoke shortly about the event during his Tuesday rally.
In his view, that night was about something different.
"We had, you know, great singers, we had American business tycoons and, of course, we had our favorite president," Vance said. "And it just felt like a lot of people were thrilled to be there to celebrate the United States of America, our history and most importantly what our future could hold if we fix the broken leadership."
With all that's been seen on the trail, Glanville said there's a clear contrast.
"We need to agree to work together, and that's the difference between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump," Glanville said. "Kamala Harris is willing to work with everybody, with the people, to listen to their needs and to propose solutions that make sense. We do not get that with Donald Trump. We get quite the opposite."
And in his 11th-hour rally, Vance also portrayed the race as a clear choice, but from a very different angle.
"We have got two choices in this country," Vance said. "We have got the pathway of higher grocery prices, higher housing prices, a wide open southern border. And then we've got the Donald J. Trump pathway of peace, prosperity and an affordable American dream. In seven days, let's choose the pathway of peace and prosperity."