JUNEAU, Wis. (AP) — President Donald Trump visited Wisconsin on Sunday for the fourth time in eight days, drawing attention to the crucial state of his campaign, but Republicans are worried that he will fall behind Democrats. I am concerned whether we will be able to match the enthusiasm and turnout.
“Wisconsin is probably the most difficult battleground state to win,” Trump said in his opening remarks at an airplane hangar in rural Juneau, where a packed crowd spilled onto the tarmac. said. “i don’t think so.”
Watch President Trump’s remarks in the player above.
Voters in Wisconsin have already cast absentee ballots, and in-person early voting begins Oct. 22. Trump was on stage for nearly two hours, coinciding with a Green Bay Packers game, and touched on the third rail of Wisconsin politics, drawing derision from Democrats. But that hasn’t stopped thousands of people from sticking with Trump, who has called on his supporters to start voting by mail and early when the time comes, calling for “record numbers.” The vote was taken.
“If we win Wisconsin, we win the presidency,” Trump said.
Wisconsin has always been a close state in presidential elections, but Republicans have only won it once in the past 40 years, going to Trump in 2016. A victory in November could make it impossible for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to take the White House.
Brandon Scholz, a former Republican strategist and longtime political observer in Wisconsin who voted for Trump in 2020 but won’t vote for Trump or Harris this year, said, I’m worried,” he said. “I think it’s natural for Republicans to be concerned.”
Trump won the state over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 by less than 23,000 votes, but lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 by just under 21,000 votes.
On Tuesday, President Trump made his first visit to Dane County, home to the liberal capital, Madison, in an effort to win Republican votes in the state’s Democratic stronghold. Dane is the second most populous and fastest growing county in Wisconsin. Biden won more than 75% of the vote four years ago.
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“To win statewide, we need a strategy that spans 72 counties,” former Republican Gov. Scott Walker said at the event.
Juneau is a town of 2,000 people about 80 miles north of Madison in Dodge County, which Trump won in 2020 with 65% of the vote.
Due to our early arrival, the hangar was full, far exceeding the number of seats available. A large banner behind the indoor bleachers read “Early Vote.”
“Be sure to show up, because I’ve been to Madison,” U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, from Juneau, said at the event. “I’ve been to Madison, the liberals, and they’re going to show up. We need to do the same thing because we are the firewall that keeps this country independent and free.”
County Republican Party Chairman Jack Yuz said there is more support for Trump in this part of the state than in 2016 or 2020.
“We can’t keep putting signs in,” Yuzu said. “They want everything he has. If it says Trump, they can sell it.”
According to media tracking firm AdImpact, Trump’s campaign and outside groups supporting her candidacy have paid for Harris and her supporters’ advertising in Wisconsin since her July 23 inauguration. By October 1st, the company announced that it had earned more than $35 million to $31 million.
Ms. Harris and outside groups supporting her candidacy have secured more advertising time in Wisconsin from October 1 to November 5, compared to the $20 million that Mr. Trump and his allies have received. However, it was more than $25 million.
The Harris campaign has 50 offices in 43 counties and more than 250 staff in Wisconsin, said Timothy White, a spokesman for the Harris campaign. The Trump campaign said it has 40 offices and dozens of employees in the state.
Harris rallied her supporters at an event in Madison in September that drew more than 10,000 people. On Thursday, she held an event in Ripon, the birthplace of the Republican Party, with one of President Trump’s most prominent Republican opponents, former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, to appeal to moderates and disaffected conservatives. .
WATCH: Harris campaigns with Liz Cheney as Trump repeats false claims about 2020 election
Harris and Trump are focusing on the “blue wall” states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, which supported Trump in 2016 and went to Biden in the next election.
Trump’s campaign is bullish about his chances in Pennsylvania, as well as in the Sunbelt states, but Wisconsin is seen as tougher.
“Wisconsin is a tough state,” said Chris Lacivita, a senior Trump campaign adviser who worked on Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s successful 2022 re-election campaign.
“I mean, look, it’s going to be very tough, very, very, all the way to the end. But the situation that we’re in now, organizationally, compared to where we were four years ago, organizationally. And then it’s completely different,” Lacivita said.
He also cited Michigan State as a bigger challenge. “But again, these are states that Biden won and carried, so it’s going to be a fight to the very end. And we’re not going to concede any ground to that position.”
The candidates are nearly evenly matched in Wisconsin, based on a series of polls that have shown little movement since Biden left office in late July. These same polls also show high enthusiasm for both parties.
Mark Graul, who ran then-President George W. Bush’s 2004 campaign in Wisconsin, said the number of campaign visits speaks to Wisconsin’s decisive role in elections.
He said the key for both sides is convincing people who rarely vote to go to the polls.
“In my opinion, it’s much more important than the rally,” Graul said.
Mark Thieleman, of Watertown, said the energy and size of the crowd sent a message that Trump is strong in Wisconsin.
“Everyone is interested in it,” he said during President Trump’s speech. “It’s time for a change.”
Gomez-Rycon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, and Jill Colvin in Butler, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.
