Ron DeSantis hits the campaign trail for GOP candidates in Pennsylvania, Ohio

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will lend his political star power later tonight to two fellow Republicans running for office as he continues to burnish his own image as a future GOP presidential candidate. 

DeSantis, who is running for reelection this year, will first travel to Pittsburgh to stump for Pennsylvania GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano. The online invitation shows the 4:30 p.m. rally is being held in the grand ballroom in the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh. 

Mastriano, a hard-right state senator, faces Democrat Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania's attorney general, in the general election this November. Shapiro is leading Mastriano in the most recent poll by 15 points.

Then at 6 p.m., DeSantis is slated to join Ohio candidate for U.S. Senate J.D. Vance. That rally will be held at the Metroplex Expo Center in Girard, Ohio – roughly 75 miles away. 

Vance is best known for his 2016 memoir "Hillbilly Elegy," which traced the effects of the opioid addiction crisis on his hometown of Middletown, Ohio. Since then, Vance has gone from a critic of former President Donald Trump to a supporter as he adopted a more conservative persona.

He's running against U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic congressman who currently represents the area from Youngstown to Akron. The latest poll shows Vance leading Ryan by 3 points. 

Both events are organized by Turning Point Action, the conservative group founded by activist and commentator Charlie Kirk. They are part of a series of “Unite and Win” rallies being held across the U.S.

DeSantis also has attended recent campaign rallies in New Mexico for the GOP candidate for governor there, former TV meteorologist Mark Ronchetti, and in Arizona for U.S. Senate candidate Blake Masters and gubernatorial hopeful and former newscaster Kari Lake.