Donald Trump Jr. is headed to North Dakota this month to boost Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer’s bid to oust Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp in the midterm election.
President Trump’s eldest son is scheduled to headline an evening fundraiser for Cramer in Fargo on Sept. 24, and then deliver a speech the next morning at the annual conference of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, also in Fargo, where he will introduce the congressman. It’s the first campaign swing through North Dakota for Trump Jr., who has plans to return to North Dakota in late October to campaign for Cramer.
“Defeating Sen. Heitkamp is one of Don’s top priorities this cycle and he’s very much looking forward to getting on the trail in North Dakota to support Rep. Cramer’s campaign. Few people have been bigger supporters of President Trump’s America First agenda than Congressman Cramer,” a source close to Trump Jr. told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday.
Ten Senate seats are up for election in states Trump won in 2016, a handful of which are predisposed to support the president and his policies; only two competitive Senate contests are unfolding in states that Trump lost. Trump Jr.’s journey to North Dakota is part of a busy fall travel and fits with Republican Party strategy to use his father’s popularity to maximize gains where it can amid a political environment that is otherwise challenging, and cost the GOP control of the House.
In North Dakota, a state where Trump is popular and his ratings run counter to the national discontent, Cramer is using a voting record that is in line with Trump’s agenda to put Heitkamp on the defensive and turn voters against her. It’s much the same in other red states, where Republicans are hoping to defeat Democratic incumbents in targeted Senate races, or hold off strong Democratic challengers.
In Tennessee, where Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn is embroiled in a close race with Democrat Phil Bredesen, the former governor, for the seat being vacated by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the congresswoman is running a television ad that features her and Trump embracing during a campaign rally in Nashville.
In West Virginia, the super PAC affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has launched an ad campaign featuring footage of Trump urging voters to reject Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin. State Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Republican nominee, never makes an appearance in the spot; his name is never mentioned.
Meanwhile, Trump is scheduled to parachute into Texas in October to rally support for Sen. Ted Cruz. The Republican finds himself in an unexpectedly competitive contest with Democratic Rep. Beto O’Rourke, and the president’s appearance appears timed to coincide with the start of the crucial early voting period.
The battle for the House, where the GOP is clinging to a 23-seat majority, is playing out on starkly different terrain — swingy suburbs that are leaning toward the Democrats.
There, the president — and figures connected to him like Trump Jr. — are expected much less noticeable. Several Republican incumbents are campaigning on their independence from Trump and his agenda, with some even taking to the airwaves to pledge defiance on key issues.
