Trump gambles with trips to New Mexico, Virginia

By JONATHAN J. COOPER and SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Donald Trump is touring to New Mexico and Virginia within the marketing campaign’s closing days, taking a dangerous detour from the seven battleground states to spend time in locations the place Republican presidential candidates haven’t gained in a long time.

The previous president campaigned in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Thursday and was scheduled to go to Salem, Virginia, on Saturday.

The Trump workforce is projecting optimism primarily based partly on early voting numbers and thinks he will be aggressive towards Democrat Kamala Harris in each states — New Mexico specifically, if he sweeps swing states Nevada and Arizona. That hope comes although neither New Mexico nor Virginia has been carried by a GOP nominee for the White Home since George W. Bush in 2004.

Over the previous few months specifically, the battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — have seen a constant stream of candidate visits, and residents have been bombarded with political advertisements on billboards, televisions and smartphones. Prior to now two weeks alone, presidential and vice presidential candidates have made 21 appearances in Pennsylvania, 17 in Michigan and 13 in North Carolina.

Within the 43 different states, a candidate go to is an thrilling novelty.

Trump retains fervent pockets of assist even in states that vote overwhelmingly towards him, and he can simply fill his rallies with enthusiastic supporters.

He has made different current detours from the states most at play, holding rallies at Madison Square Garden in New York and in Coachella, California — states which can be much more solidly Democratic than New Mexico and Virginia. These occasions happy Trump’s long-shot claims that he can win each states, however had been additionally geared toward incomes most media consideration as his marketing campaign seeks to achieve voters who don’t comply with political information intently.

Trump additionally confirmed up in staunchly Republican Montana, and each Trump and Harris campaigned on the identical day final week in Texas, which Democrats final gained in 1976.

These journeys served different functions, akin to highlighting points vital in a state or supporting Home or Senate candidates.

Trump stated in Albuquerque that he may win the state so long as the election is honest, repeating falsehoods about rigged previous elections.

“If we may carry God down from heaven, he could possibly be the vote counter and we may win this,” Trump stated. He added he’s visiting New Mexico as a result of it’s “good for my credentials” with Hispanic voters.

Trump’s technique carries threat.

After shedding to Trump in 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton was criticized for going to Arizona late within the marketing campaign as a substitute of spending time in Wisconsin, Michigan or Pennsylvania, states that ended up deciding that election. Arizona is now a battleground, however it wasn’t thought of notably aggressive eight years in the past, when it voted for Trump by a 4-percentage level margin.

“I don’t suppose there’s any technique,” stated Bob Shrum, a longtime Democratic political guide who labored on quite a few presidential campaigns and now leads Middle for the Political Future at College of Southern California. “I believe he insisted on doing it. It is unnecessary.”

New Mexico cease brings Trump to a border state

The deliberate go to to Albuquerque brings Trump and his immigration stance to a border state with the nation’s highest focus of Latino voters, highlighting the marketing campaign for Hispanic supporters.

About 44% of the voting-age inhabitants in New Mexico identifies as Hispanic. Many have centuries-old ties to Mexican and Spanish settlements, whereas the state has a smaller share of foreign-born residents than the nationwide common.

On the identical time, federal and native authorities in New Mexico are coping with a surge in migrant deaths along the U.S. border with Mexico.

Trump’s go to has implications for a congressional swing district stretching from Albuquerque to the border with Mexico. It’s now held by a Democrat as Republicans look to carry onto their slender Home majority. Immigration has been a major issue within the race.

Additionally on the poll, Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich is looking for a 3rd time period towards Republican Nella Domenici. She is the daughter of the late Republican Sen. Pete Domenici, who served six phrases, from 1973 to 2009 and was the final New Mexico Republican elected to the Senate.

Unbiased presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stays on the poll in New Mexico, and roadside marketing campaign indicators for Kennedy popped up throughout the capital metropolis of Santa Fe in late October, about two months after Kennedy’s withdrawal from the race and endorsement of Trump.

New Mexico voters have twice rebuffed Trump on the polls, and Democrats maintain each statewide elected place, all three congressional seats and majorities within the state Home and Senate.

Virginia was as soon as a battleground

Whereas Virginia was thought of a battleground as not too long ago as 2012, it has trended towards Democrats up to now decade, particularly within the populous northern Virginia suburbs.

Trump misplaced the state to Clinton in 2016 and Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. This yr, Democrats and their allies within the presidential race have spent almost twice as a lot as Republicans on advertisements in Virginia, knowledge present, although it pales compared to the spending in battleground states.

“Now we have an actual likelihood,” Trump stated whereas phoning right into a Richmond-area rally on Saturday.

Trump, whereas in Virginia, is probably going to talk about Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling leaving in place a purge of voter registrations that the state says is geared toward stopping people who find themselves not U.S. residents from voting.