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Eyes are on rural voters in 2024's election. Who will they vote for and why?

Analysts say Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz were selected as the vice presidential candidates for their respective parties in part due to their potential appeal to rural voters.
Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons
Analysts say Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz were selected as the vice presidential candidates for their respective parties in part due to their potential appeal to rural voters.

Today is the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Democratic delegates officially nominated Vice President Kamala Harris for president and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for vice president this week.

Cory Vaillancourt joins Midday from Chicago to discuss the latest news in national politics. He is the politics editor for the Smoky Mountain News, headquartered in Waynesville, North Carolina amid the the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. Vaillancourt is also a contributor to several public radio stations, NPR and the Washington Post.

Could rural voters be the key to victory in 2024? Analysts say Walz and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, were chosen in part due to their supposed appeal to rural voters, particularly rural white voters. Other than geography, what about the pair do their respective parties hope appeal to these voters?

Cory Vaillancourt, Politics Editor for the Smoky Mountain News
Photo courtesy of Cory Vaillancourt
Cory Vaillancourt, Politics Editor for the Smoky Mountain News

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Host, Midday (M-F 12:00-1:00)
Matt Bush spent 14 years in public radio prior to coming to WYPR as news director in October 2022. From 2008 to 2016, he worked at Washington D.C.’s NPR affiliate, WAMU, where he was the station’s Maryland reporter. He covered the Maryland General Assembly for six years (alongside several WYPR reporters in the statehouse radio bullpen) as well as both Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. @MattBushMD
Teria is a Supervising Producer on Midday.
Sam Bermas-Dawes is a producer for Midday.