Trump Does Some Retail Politics in Maine: Campaign Update

Biden, Trump Are Neck-and-Neck in Texas Poll: Campaign Update

26 Oct 2020, 05:13 PM IST

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump dropped in on an apple orchard in Maine. Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris will campaign in Texas on Friday. And Florida, Georgia and North Carolina are up for grabs, polls show.

There are nine days until the election and 50 days until the Electoral College meets.

Other Developments:

Trump Does Some Retail Politics in Maine

Trump made an unpublicized visit to a Maine apple orchard on Sunday after a campaign rally in New Hampshire, wading into a crowd of supporters to sign hats and chat in a rare moment of retail politicking.

The president visited Treworgy Family Orchards in Levant, in Maine’s Republican-held congressional district. Maine and Nebraska are the only states that award Electoral College votes to presidential candidates who win individual congressional districts, instead of only to the statewide winner.

Hundreds of people came to the orchard to try to catch a glimpse of Trump; some said they had waited hours to get in. They chanted “four more years” and “we love you” to the president.

“We’ve freed up 5,000 square miles in the ocean that they took away from you,” Trump said of his administration’s move to open fisheries off Maine’s coast. “I got rid of the tariffs they were charging you in China and the EU,” he added.

“They called it a monument. You know who it was a monument to? Your last president,” he said of the area off Maine’s coast which President Barack Obama declared a national monument in 2016.

Harris to Campaign in Historically Republican Texas (3:30 p.m.)

Harris will campaign in Texas on Friday in a sign that the Biden campaign believes it has a shot to win the historically Republican state.

A person familiar with her plans confirmed the Democratic vice-presidential nominee’s trip, which will come four days before the election and on the final day for early voting in the state.

A Dallas Morning News poll released Sunday showed Joe Biden essentially tied with Trump, 48% to 45%, a 3-point edge within the margin of error. A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed the candidates tied at 47%. Polls conducted in September and early October showed Trump with a single-digit lead.

Harris had been scheduled to visit Texas last weekend but the trip was scrapped as she briefly paused travel after two people who’d been on her campaign plane contracted Covid-19. Still, the Biden team’s decision to reschedule the trip so close to Election Day is a sign it’s taking seriously its chances in the state.

Texas hasn’t backed a Democratic ticket since Jimmy Carter in 1976, and the Trump campaign, in a call with reporters on Sunday, expressed confidence the streak will continue. The president won’t campaign there before Nov. 3, and his surrogate Rick Perry, a former Texas governor, will attend events in Pennsylvania instead. -- Jennifer Epstein and Mario Parker

Florida, Georgia and North Carolina Up for Grabs, Polls Show (12:33 p.m.)

Three southern battlegrounds in the presidential contest remain up for grabs just a little over a week before Election Day, according to new polling from CBS News.

Biden has a 2 percentage-point edge over Trump among registered voters in Florida, with 50% support for the Democratic nominee compared with 48% for the president, the Oct. 20-23 poll found. In Georgia, they’re tied at 49%-49%. And in North Carolina, Biden leads, 51%-47%.

The poll also found that voters in each party have very different views about the risks associated with the coronavirus, with Biden supporters far more likely to say they could contract it. In Florida, 56% of Biden supporters said they are very concerned they will catch it, compared with just 13% of Trump supporters. In Georgia, it was 53%-15%, and in North Carolina 55%-12%.

When asked which candidate can better handle the virus outbreak, registered voters in all three states gave Biden higher marks. He led Trump 49%-41% in Florida, 48%-41% in Georgia and 50%-39% in North Carolina.

The Florida poll had a margin of error of 3.6 points, it was 3.4 points in Georgia and 4.1 points in North Carolina. -- Laura Litvan

Biden, Harris Tied in Another Texas Poll (9:57 a.m.)

Biden is essentially tied with Trump in Texas, which hasn’t backed a Democratic presidential candidate since 1976.

Just over a week until the election, a poll by the Dallas Morning News/UT Tyler found Biden leading Trump by 2 percentage points among registered voters, 46% to 44%, and by a margin of 3 percentage points among all likely voters, 48% to 45%. Both results are within the margins of error.

This is the third poll released in the past week that shows Biden running even with Trump in the traditionally Republican stronghold. A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found the candidates tied 47% to 47% among likely voters. Texas hasn’t elected a Democrat statewide since 1994 and hasn’t voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter.

Biden’s strong showing in the state is largely due to minority voters. Hispanic registered voters back the former vice president over the incumbent 67% to 20% and Black registered voters back Biden 79% to 5%. White voters support Trump 62% to 31%.

The poll was conducted Oct. 13-20. The margin of error for registered voters is 3.08 percentage points and 3.22 percentage points for likely voters. -- Emma Kinery

Coming Up:

Biden will make his first campaign trip to Georgia on Tuesday. Obama will travel to Florida on Tuesday to campaign for his former vice president.