Thousands rally around Vice President J.D. Vance during an event in Lakeland
By Steve Newborn
October 1, 2026 at 8:06 PM EDT
A packed house heard speeches by Vance, Byron Donalds, Ashley Moody, Anna Paulina Luna and other Republican candidates.
Thousands of people crowded into Lakeland Linder International Airport on Thursday to hear Vice President J.D. Vance rally the Republican faithful. The raucous event had a theme of getting voters to the polls in November.
Republican nominee for governor Byron Donalds, Sen. Ashley Moody, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and several other candidates bashed their Democratic opponents. Their speeches were light on specific issues.
Vance attacked Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon as a socialist and David Jolly, the candidate for governor, as out of touch.
He also exhorted the crowd to vote.
"This Nov. 3, I want you to send a message, send a message to the media, send a message to the Democrats," Vance told the audience inside an airport hangar. "Send a message to the far left radicals who would take your state over. America belongs to those who love it, not to hate it. It belongs to you. Get out there and vote, and make sure it stays that way."
Vance and most of the other candidates saved their best shots for Nixon and Jolly.
"When Angie Nixon calls herself a socialist, I think the right thing to say is get the hell out of here," Vance said. "You don't belong in America."
On Jolly, he said: "The thing about David Jolly is he'll say anything to stay relevant. He flips and flops in the wind."
Most of the crowd was white and skewed older.
Afterward, Warren Wright of Lakeland left the rally alongside his wife.
"Sometimes we forget to be proud of our state. They made me proud of my state today."
"Sometimes we forget to be proud of our state. They made me proud of my state today," the retiree said. "I'm encouraged. I'm encouraged about the election in November, and yes, and I hope everybody turns out and votes."
When asked about the lack of any discussion by the candidates on topics such as inflation, the cost of gasoline and the war in Iran, he said the topics the candidates touched upon were relevant to most people.
"Nobody is satisfied right now," Wright said. "I've made a point to point out to my friends and in Facebook that things have been worse. I lived through (former President) Joe Biden. That economy was worse for me than this one is. Yet, people seem to forget."
Thousands lined up to get into the rally inside an airport hangar at Lakeland Linder International Airport to see Vice President J.D. Vance on Oct. 1, 2026. (4032x2672, AR: 1.5089820359281436)
Wright was also asked if the war in Iran was relevant to him.
"This is a hard time, but President (Donald) Trump can blame the disabling of the world's leading state sponsor of terrorists and terrorism for the prices being the way they are," he said. "When the Democrats were in office, they were sending billions of dollars to Iran. I would pay $4 a gallon all the time for a neutral Iran."
Several young people leaving the rally were less enamored with the message.
Sophia Montes, 20, of Davenport, said she doesn't like to feel that she has to fact-check everything she hears. And she said she didn't hear about issues her age group cares about.
"I don't feel like I'm being heard now."
"I would like them to address cost of living," Montes said after the rally. "I want them to address the demographics that they're targeting in their messaging and, you know, understand some nuance for once. I think that's what a lot of the American people want to hear. They want to feel heard across the board. I don't feel like I'm being heard now."
Lillian Hayes, of Charlotte, N.C., attends Florida Southern College in Lakeland. She also said the candidates barely touched upon the topics she's interested in.
"They talked about inflation once," she said. "I definitely feel like you can see that, like with gas prices and things of that nature. And I feel like we definitely hope that would go down, also because in their campaign they talked about how inflation would go down, gas prices would go down."
"They talked about how important it is to minister to young people, but they didn't talk about as much the issues that we're facing."
"We wouldn't have a war. We kind of have all those things occurring right now. So I feel like that would have been nice for them to touch on," she said, "because they talked about how important it is to minister to young people, but they didn't talk about as much the issues that we're facing."
Nearby, Kairi Butts of Orlando, a political science student, said he also wished the candidates talked more about bread-and-butter issues affecting most people.
"There's a really noticeable lack of talking points besides just slandering the opposition," he said, "and, of course, that's an issue with both parties now."
A packed house filled a hangar at Lakeland Linder International Airport to hear several Republican candidates during the rally on Oct. 1, 2026. Vice President J.D. Vance was the main speaker. (4032x2869, AR: 1.4053677239456257)
Republican nominee for governor Byron Donalds, Sen. Ashley Moody, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and several other candidates bashed their Democratic opponents. Their speeches were light on specific issues.
Vance attacked Democratic Senate candidate Angie Nixon as a socialist and David Jolly, the candidate for governor, as out of touch.
He also exhorted the crowd to vote.
"This Nov. 3, I want you to send a message, send a message to the media, send a message to the Democrats," Vance told the audience inside an airport hangar. "Send a message to the far left radicals who would take your state over. America belongs to those who love it, not to hate it. It belongs to you. Get out there and vote, and make sure it stays that way."
Vance and most of the other candidates saved their best shots for Nixon and Jolly.
"When Angie Nixon calls herself a socialist, I think the right thing to say is get the hell out of here," Vance said. "You don't belong in America."
On Jolly, he said: "The thing about David Jolly is he'll say anything to stay relevant. He flips and flops in the wind."
Most of the crowd was white and skewed older.
Afterward, Warren Wright of Lakeland left the rally alongside his wife.
"Sometimes we forget to be proud of our state. They made me proud of my state today."
"Sometimes we forget to be proud of our state. They made me proud of my state today," the retiree said. "I'm encouraged. I'm encouraged about the election in November, and yes, and I hope everybody turns out and votes."
When asked about the lack of any discussion by the candidates on topics such as inflation, the cost of gasoline and the war in Iran, he said the topics the candidates touched upon were relevant to most people.
"Nobody is satisfied right now," Wright said. "I've made a point to point out to my friends and in Facebook that things have been worse. I lived through (former President) Joe Biden. That economy was worse for me than this one is. Yet, people seem to forget."
Thousands lined up to get into the rally inside an airport hangar at Lakeland Linder International Airport to see Vice President J.D. Vance on Oct. 1, 2026. (4032x2672, AR: 1.5089820359281436)
Wright was also asked if the war in Iran was relevant to him.
"This is a hard time, but President (Donald) Trump can blame the disabling of the world's leading state sponsor of terrorists and terrorism for the prices being the way they are," he said. "When the Democrats were in office, they were sending billions of dollars to Iran. I would pay $4 a gallon all the time for a neutral Iran."
Several young people leaving the rally were less enamored with the message.
Sophia Montes, 20, of Davenport, said she doesn't like to feel that she has to fact-check everything she hears. And she said she didn't hear about issues her age group cares about.
"I don't feel like I'm being heard now."
"I would like them to address cost of living," Montes said after the rally. "I want them to address the demographics that they're targeting in their messaging and, you know, understand some nuance for once. I think that's what a lot of the American people want to hear. They want to feel heard across the board. I don't feel like I'm being heard now."
Lillian Hayes, of Charlotte, N.C., attends Florida Southern College in Lakeland. She also said the candidates barely touched upon the topics she's interested in.
"They talked about inflation once," she said. "I definitely feel like you can see that, like with gas prices and things of that nature. And I feel like we definitely hope that would go down, also because in their campaign they talked about how inflation would go down, gas prices would go down."
"They talked about how important it is to minister to young people, but they didn't talk about as much the issues that we're facing."
"We wouldn't have a war. We kind of have all those things occurring right now. So I feel like that would have been nice for them to touch on," she said, "because they talked about how important it is to minister to young people, but they didn't talk about as much the issues that we're facing."
Nearby, Kairi Butts of Orlando, a political science student, said he also wished the candidates talked more about bread-and-butter issues affecting most people.
"There's a really noticeable lack of talking points besides just slandering the opposition," he said, "and, of course, that's an issue with both parties now."
A packed house filled a hangar at Lakeland Linder International Airport to hear several Republican candidates during the rally on Oct. 1, 2026. Vice President J.D. Vance was the main speaker. (4032x2869, AR: 1.4053677239456257)