US Politics

Trump stop in blue-leaning state could boost Republican bid to flip Democrat-held Senate seat

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Rocky Mount Event Center, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Rocky Mount, N.C. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

The Republican Senate nominee in New Mexico says former President Trump’s stop in the blue-leaning southwestern state on Thursday “will infuse our state with a lot of momentum.”

Nella Domenici, the 2024 GOP Senate nominee and the daughter of New Mexico’s last Republican senator, is trying to defeat Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is running in November for a third six-year term, as her party works to win back the chamber’s majority.

“Trump is definitely going to help us with the independents,” Domenici predicted in a Fox News Digital interview on the eve of the former president’s visit to the state. 

With five days until Election Day next Tuesday, the former president is making a rare detour from campaigning in the seven crucial battleground states in the White House race that will likely determine if Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris wins the 2024 election.

WHY TRUMP IS MAKING LAST MINUTE STOPS AHEAD OF ELECTION DAY IN BLUE-LEANING STATES

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Rocky Mount Event Center, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in Rocky Mount, N.C. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

It’s been two decades since a Republican carried New Mexico in a presidential election. You’ve got to go back to President George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election.

There hasn’t been an abundance of polling in New Mexico, but most recent surveys indicate Harris with an upper single digit lead over Trump, although one survey suggests a tighter contest for the state’s five electoral votes.

With time such a precious commodity for presidential campaigns and the clock quickly ticking toward Election Day, New Mexico Democrats say Trump’s trip to the state – his first in five years – is a fool’s errand.

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“Trump is wasting his time coming to our state as polling shows New Mexicans are set to reject his MAGA extremism and divisive rhetoric yet again,” Democratic Party of New Mexico spokesperson Daniel Garcia claimed in a statement.

And referring to the Oct. 31st stop in Albuquerque by the former president, Garcia took a verbal shot at Trump, saying “a rotund orange mass will be in Albuquerque on Halloween, and we’re not talking about a pumpkin.”

Nella Domenici, the Republican Senate nominee in New Mexico, campaigns in Carlsbad, N.M. on Oct. 29, 2024

Nella Domenici, the Republican Senate nominee in New Mexico, campaigns in Carlsbad, N.M. on Oct. 29, 2024 (Nella Domenici Senate campaign)

But Domenici, who’s trying to narrow the gap with Heinrich, sees…

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