President Trump and Vice President Pence are barnstorming swing states with 68 days to go before the midterm elections.
The president is in Evansville, Ind., on Thursday, where he’ll hold his 10th rally in the Hoosier State since announcing his bid for president in 2015.
Trump will be promoting Republican Mike Braun, who is trying to take out Sen. Joe Donnelly (D).
Donnelly is one of 10 Senate Democrats up for reelection in states the president carried in 2016. Trump won Indiana by nearly 20 points but the only recent survey of the Senate race found Donnelly with a 12 point lead.
Usually on a campaign stop like this, conservative outside groups would coordinate with the president to amplify his message. This time, the conservative group Freedom Partners, which is part of the network helmed by Charles Koch, will be running ads in Evansville in opposition to the president’s tariffs (YouTube).
Meanwhile, Pence is keeping an even more aggressive campaign schedule.
The vice president was in Michigan on Wednesday in support of GOP upstart John James, the African-American veteran of the Iraq War who is considered a long-shot to unseat Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D) in a state the president turned red for the first time in nearly 30 years.
On Thursday, Pence will hit both Minnesota and Wisconsin.
In Minneapolis, Pence will raise money for the state party. Minnesota is second only to California for the state with the most “toss up” House races, according to the nonpartisan election handicappers at The Cook Political Report.
There are two vulnerable House Republicans here – Reps. Erik Paulsenand Jason Lewis. Paulsen is one of 23 House Republicans up for reelection in a district Hillary Clinton won in 2016.
But Republicans also have a rare opportunity to go on offense for House seats in Minnesota, with two open seats in rural districts that might represent their best chance at turning blue seats red this cycle.
Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) are both up for reelection this year but they’re favorites to win their respective races.
Still, Trump and Pence have been visiting Minnesota to lay the groundwork for their 2020 reelection campaign. Clinton carried the state by less than 2 points in 2016.
From there, Pence will stop in Milwaukee on Thursday night to campaign for GOP Senate candidate Leah Vukmir.
Vukmir is challenging Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), another top target for Republicans in a state the president turned red for the first time since 1984. Trump edged Clinton by less than 1 point in Wisconsin in 2016.
