Donald Trump will have a rally in Delaware in the afternoon following the final presidential debate.
The Republican presidential nominee will speak at 12:30 p.m. at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, 236 Pennsylvania Ave., in the Coliseum. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. Tickets are available hereat www.donaldjtrump.com.
“The Delaware County Republican Party welcomes Donald Trump to one of the reddest of counties in Ohio. We join Mr. Trump in his battle against Hillary Clinton and her failed liberal policies,” said Jim Schuck, chairman of Delaware County Republican Party. “While he’s here, Mr. Trump will see the Delaware County GOP is hard at work to elect all Republicans, from the top of the ticket down to our county offices.”
More than 2,500 people are expected to attend, according to Sandy Kuhn, general manager of the Delaware County Fair.
Former President Bill Clinton campaigned for his wife, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, at the fairgrounds in Delaware to a crowd of about 500 on Friday. The Clinton campaign hopes to snag votes from the reliably GOP Delaware County, which gave 61 percent of its votes to Republican Mitt Romney in 2012 and 59 percent to John McCain in 2008.
“Trump’s visit to Delaware underscores the potential boost the county can give to a Republican presidential candidate in Ohio,” said Jenny Holland, a political science professor at Ohio Wesleyan University, in an email. “Since Delaware County is traditionally a Republican stronghold, a smart strategy for Trump would be to shore up as many votes here as possible. When a candidate visits a county, it sends a message that the county is important.”
Trump comes to Delaware in a virtual tied for Ohio with Hillary Clinton, who will be speaking in Cleveland on Friday, at 45 percent, followed by Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson at 6 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 1 percent, according to Monday’s Quinnipiac poll.
The poll was conducted well before Trump and Clinton debated for the third and final time at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Wednesday night.
“Donald Trump’s visit to Delaware County is a panicked response to Hillary Clinton’s increasing appeal in the area on the heels of recently surfaced footage and more troubling reports of Trump’s treatment of women coming to light,” Delaware County Democratic Chairman Ed Helvey said in a statement.
“My neighbors are increasingly seeing Trump as a terrible role model for children in our county, where even Delaware County’s own most high profile Republican, Governor Kasich, has refused to support Trump and has been vocal about rejecting his divisive and hateful campaign.”