GOP: Expect Trump, Pence to visit Minnesota this year
President Trump told national Republicans last week that he will make an election-year stop in Minnesota, Minnesota GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan confirmed Monday.
Vice President Mike Pence is likely to come as well before Trump, she added. No specific dates were given for either visit.
Trump came closer than most Republican presidential candidates to winning Minnesota, falling short by less than 2 percentage points statewide but winning a majority in 78 of 87 counties
“His support is still very high in Minnesota and that we would encourage him to come out. It’s kind of coming out of continued asks,” Carnahan said. “He did say, ‘I will be there.’ He said ‘I will be there’ in July when I was in the Oval Office. So it will just be, I think, a matter of time for what works best into his political schedule.”
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Carnahan said she expects Pence to campaign in the state sooner than Trump.
DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said he’d also roll out the welcome mat.
“I don’t think there is anyone who would fire up Minnesota Democrats more than a visit by Donald Trump.” “We would welcome him here any time -- him or Vice President Pence.”
Both parties are seeing a great amount of enthusiasm in their political bases, Martin said.
He called Minnesota “the epicenter of 2018 elections” given the number of targeted races on the ballot -- from the governor’s race and a U.S. Senate seat on down to state House races.