Donald Trump gambles with late-stage trips to Democratic New Mexico and Virginia

Donald Trump is traveling to New Mexico and Virginia in the campaigns final days taking a risky detour from the seven battleground states to spend time in places where Republican presidential candidates have not won in decades The former president campaigned in Albuquerque New Mexico on Thursday and was scheduled to visit Salem Virginia on SaturdayThe Trump team is projecting optimism based in part on early voting numbers and thinks he can be competitive against Democrat Kamala Harris in both states New Mexico in particular if he sweeps swing states Nevada and Arizona That hope comes even though neither New Mexico nor Virginia has been carried by a GOP nominee for the White House since George W Bush in 2004Over the past few months in particular 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 ads on billboards televisions and smartphones In the past two weeks alone presidential and vice presidential candidates have made 21 appearances in Pennsylvania 17 in Michigan and 13 in North CarolinaIn the 43 other states a candidate visit is an exciting novelty Trump retains fervent pockets of support even in states that vote overwhelmingly against him and he can easily fill his rallies with enthusiastic supportersHe has made other recent detours from the states most at play holding rallies at Madison Square Garden in New York and in Coachella California states that are even more solidly Democratic than New Mexico and Virginia Those events satisfied Trumps longshot claims that he can win both states but were also aimed at earning maximum media attention as his campaign seeks to reach voters who do not follow political news closelyTrump also showed up in staunchly Republican Montana and both Trump and Harris campaigned on the same day last week in Texas which Democrats last won in 1976 Those trips served other purposes such as highlighting issues important in a state or supporting House or Senate candidatesTrump said in Albuquerque that he could win the state as long as the election is fair repeating falsehoods about rigged past elections If we could bring God down from heaven he could be the vote counter and we could win this Trump said He added hes visiting New Mexico because its good for my credentials with Hispanic votersTrumps strategy carries risk After losing to Trump in 2016 Democrat Hillary Clinton was criticized for going to Arizona late in the campaign instead of spending time in Wisconsin Michigan or Pennsylvania states that ended up deciding that election Arizona is now a battleground but it wasnt considered particularly competitive eight years ago when it voted for Trump by a 4percentage point marginI dont think theres any strategy said Bob Shrum a longtime Democratic political consultant who worked on numerous presidential campaigns and now leads Center for the Political Future at University of Southern California I think he insisted on doing it It makes no senseNew Mexico stop brings Trump to a border stateThe planned visit to Albuquerque brings Trump and his immigration stance to a border state with the nations highest concentration of Latino voters highlighting the campaign for Hispanic supportersAbout 4437 of the votingage population in New Mexico identifies as Hispanic Many have centuriesold ties to Mexican and Spanish settlements while the state has a smaller share of foreignborn residents than the national averageAt the same time federal and local authorities in New Mexico are dealing with a surge in migrant deaths along the US border with Mexico Trumps visit has implications for a congressional swing district stretching from Albuquerque to the border with Mexico Its now held by a Democrat as Republicans look to hold onto their narrow House majority Immigration has been a major issue in the raceAlso on the ballot Democratic Sen Martin Heinrich is seeking a third term against Republican Nella Domenici She is the daughter of the late Republican Sen Pete Domenici who served six terms from 1973 to 2009 and was the last New Mexico Republican elected to the SenateIndependent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr remains on the ballot in New Mexico and roadside campaign signs for Kennedy popped up across the capital city of Santa Fe in late October about two months after Kennedys withdrawal from the race and endorsement of TrumpNew Mexico voters have twice rebuffed Trump at the polls and Democrats hold every statewide elected position all three congressional seats and majorities in the state House and Senate He just brings us back to what the US needs to be Leandra Dominguez of Albuquerque 45 said before Trump spoke Its just fallen apart We just need someone to save usVirginia was once a battlegroundWhile Virginia was considered a battleground as recently as 2012 it has trended toward Democrats in the past decade especially in the populous northern Virginia suburbsTrump lost the state to Clinton in 2016 and Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 This year Democrats and their allies in the presidential race have spent nearly twice as much as Republicans on ads in Virginia data show though it pales in comparison to the spending in battleground states