Top officials in former President Donald Trump’s campaign for reelection believe the relatively blue states of Minnesota and Virginia are in play for the GOP ahead of the 2024 general election.
Since 2008, Virginia has voted for a Democratic president consistently. Minnesota has been voting Democrats into the presidency for much longer, having voted consistently blue since 1976.
“We have a real, real opportunity in expanding the map in Virginia and Minnesota,” senior Trump adviser Chris LaCivita told NBC News.
Next week, Trump is set to host a GOP annual dinner in Minnesota, which will mark his first visit to the state this campaign season.
“We are thrilled to welcome President Trump back to Minnesota to headline our Lincoln Reagan dinner, an annual tradition that reminds us of the roots of our Party and the leaders who have been most impactful in promoting our American values,” Minnesota Republican Party Chairman David Hann said in a statement.
Minnesota Democrats expressed skepticism about Trump’s chances in the state. In 2016, he lost Minnesota by more than 43,000 votes, and in 2020 he lost the state by a much wider margin of more than 233,000 votes.
“By doubling down on Donald Trump and his MAGA agenda, Minnesota Republicans are tying their fate to his in November,” Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement. “Minnesota voters have repeatedly rejected Donald Trump and his efforts to ban abortion, take away their health insurance, and attack our democracy. Republicans up and down the ballot will have to answer for why they are abandoning Minnesota values and kissing Donald Trump’s ring.”
In Virginia, Trump lost the state in 2016 by more than 212,000 votes and lost again in 2020 by more than 451,000 votes. A recent poll from Roanoke College showed Trump polling below Biden by 4 points in Virginia.
“I don’t think anybody believes it will be close to that 10 points,” Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, told ABC8News. “It may be more like Hillary Clinton’s five points in 2016.”
The news from the Trump campaign comes as the Biden campaign is eyeing North Carolina and Florida, historic swing states that have moved toward Republicans in recent years, areas they believe they can flip blue.
The Biden campaign believes they have a chance to flip Florida blue for the first time since 2008 as a restrictive abortion policy recently went into effect. Florida voters will have the opportunity to vote on reproductive rights this November.
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Last month, the Biden campaign opened its first office in Florida in Tampa.
“Florida is ground zero in the fight for our rights and fundamental freedoms,” said Jasmine Burney-Clark, a top campaign staffer, “and we’re not taking anything for granted.”
