Usha Vance is in town

As Republicans blitz voters nationwide with hundreds of millions of dollars in ads in hopes of buying Nov. 3 victories, some recognizable faces of the party are showing up in unexpected places to try to energize conservative voters.

Did anyone in Arkansas ask for Usha Vance, wife of JD, to come visiting? Regardless, she’s here. Vance is going to Glenview Elementary in North Little Rock today “to visit classrooms, host an education roundtable discussion, and lead an assembly for the student body,” according to a press release from the Governor’s Office.

After that, Vance and Gov. Sarah Sanders will co-host a 1:30 p.m. reception at the Governor’s Mansion for teachers who earned merit pay.

Neither event is open to the public.

Remember the last time Sanders hosted a nationally recognizable Republican woman at the mansion? Erika Kirk cried, of course, and then a melee broke out outside the mansion gates when a Sanders supporter threw a punch at a protester. That Sanders supporter, Ron Daniels, was never charged with anything, but four protesters were.

Gov. Sarah Sanders, who has close ties to the Kirks and Turning Point USA, tried to seize on the March 11 incident to portray the protesters as violent agitators. It’s not working out very well.

In July, prosecutors moved to dismiss Olivia Thompson’s charges, provided she doesn’t catch any further charges before January. Cameron Bone’s charges were dismissed in September. A trial for mother-daughter duo Finley and Jennifer Hanson has been rescheduled for December 2 because the state has not yet turned over body-camera footage.