MILWAUKEE — With a click of security gates’ disengagement, a crowd of crimson cowboy hats and MAGA caps trickled into the Fiserv Forum early Monday afternoon, just before the Republican delegates’ roll call. One question was buzzing through the congregation: Who will be former President Donald Trump’s running mate? “We are all anxiously awaiting that decision,” said Darius Mayfield, the Republican nominee for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District. “It’s between people like Tim Scott, Doug Burgum, Marco Rubio and probably J.D. Vance.” Turns out, Mayfield was right on the money, as Trump announced Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance would be his vice presidential candidate just after 2 p.m. “I think [Vance] is an outstanding VP choice,” former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy said soon after the news broke. “I think he is a rarity in American politics … he’s smart, he’s energetic but he also has a clear ideology, which we are often missing.” Denise Ballew, a cowboy-hat-wearing Texan and alternate delegate, is also confident in Trump’s decision — particularly because she trusts Trump’s competency. “Excited” was the word she used to describe both her feelings for Trump’s new runningmate and the Republican National Convention. “This is a critical time in America,” Ballew said. “We were founded on God-given principles, and we have to fight for these principles.” In both Ballew and Mayfield’s views, Trump is the ideal candidate to uphold their party’s values. “My morals just line up with the Republican Party, and I do think that Donald Trump is the only one who can get us out of the mess that we’re in,” Ballew said. Mayfield emphasized the importance of staying civically engaged to ensure the government upholds voters’ values. “Vote for the person, not the party,” he said, adding that he has been impressed by the number of members of Gen Z attending the convention, rallies and events “As young people, it’s time for us to take our politics back and it’s time for our politics to represent who we are,” Mayfield said. “I’m encouraged to see so many young people getting involved.” One of these first-time voters attending the RNC is 18-year-old Emma Tunnell, an incoming Liberty University student. She said she plans to major in political science and dreams of being a congresswoman who inspires people her age — especially after circulating through the convention. “It’s amazing,” Tunnell said with a toothy smile. “I finally get to meet people who have a lot of the same political ideas as me.” Tunnell said she will vote for Trump this November for the same reasons as other attendees: to preserve the conservative values important to her. And her message to other young voters was straight forward: Get involved. “I feel like people my age, we need to step up as conservative people,” Tunnell said. “My generation is very smart, and … there are a lot of people who could make a breakthrough.”