Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance campaigning at the New England Sports Center in Derry on Nov. 3. Courtesy photo

DERRY – With the presidential election still locked in a dead heat, Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance took the stage at the New England Sports Center to make one last appeal to Granite State voters.

During the Nov. 3 rally, he emphasized that in her capacity as vice president, Kamala Harris has fallen short on securing the southern border.

“I’ve heard about the terrible toll of Kamala Harris’ open border,” said Vance. “I’ve heard about the migrant crisis that’s made its way hundreds of miles from the American southern border right here to New Hampshire.”

Vance said the northern border has also become a problem, as the amount of fentanyl coming into the U.S. from Canada has “more than doubled.”

“I know what it’s like for families struggling with addiction,” he said, adding that up until 10 years ago, his mother was a struggling addict.

Vance said that in 2014, the number of opioids coming across the border was far less than what it is now. Therefore, with fewer drugs on the streets, it was easier to get clean and stay clean. Vance said that is not the case anymore.

“Think of all the second chances that have been taken away,” he said. “We’ve got to close down that border and go to war against the drug cartels.”

Vance said that Harris has stated that on her first day in office, she would rectify the problems at the border and bring down the cost of living.

“Kamala, day one was 1,400 days ago, what have you been doing the whole time? Stop talking about doing your job and go and do it,” he said.

Regarding the cost of living, Vance said inflation is costing the average Granite State family $30,000. He said gas prices across the state have climbed by 37 percent and the number of

credit card delinquencies is up by nine percent.

“One in 10 of our fellow citizens cannot afford to pay their bills,” said Vance.

On the jobs front, he said 28,000 private sector jobs have been lost as well as 46,000 manufacturing jobs.

“But we created a lot of good jobs for Kamala Harris’ government buddies,” said Vance. “She likes to see a lot of Americans lose their jobs. The only American who needs to lose her job is Kamala Harris.”

Going into Election Day, the national poll from TIPP showed Harris and Trump tied with 48 percent of the vote. On the state level, Harris leads Trump 51 to 46, according to the Nov. 2 poll from the University of New Hampshire.

In 2020, President Joe Biden carried the Granite State by 59,277 votes. According to 270towin.com, the last time New Hampshire voted for a Republican in a general presidential election was in 2000.