Lara Trump helps ramp up NC ground game
Lara Trump helped kick off her father-in-law’s ground game in the Charlotte area Wednesday, rallying volunteers at four field offices.
Critics have said Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has lagged behind that of Democrat Hillary Clinton in North Carolina in setting up offices and putting staff on the ground.
Lara Trump, a Wilmington native married to Eric Trump, disputed that.
“Just because we’re opening offices now don’t make any assumptions on that,” she said outside a GOP Victory office on Park Road. “We have a very strong game here in North Carolina. We feel very good about things.”
Lara Trump also visited offices in Huntersville and Indian Trail.
North Carolina is a battleground for both campaigns, but could be particularly important for Trump. Polls show the race virtually deadlocked.
Trump rallied thousands of supporters Monday night in Asheville. Clinton returns to the campaign trail Thursday in Greensboro after taking off since Sunday with what her campaign described as pneumonia.
GOP officials say Trump’s campaign is working with the state Republican Party. Spokeswoman Kara Carter said the unity campaign has 170 paid staffers and more than 700 trained organizers in the state.
“Our teams have been on the ground building our field operation since 2013,” she said Wednesday. “Offices aren’t a metric by which we define success.”
Last week, Marlon Marshall, who’s in charge of battleground states as Clinton’s national director of state campaigns and political engagement, told the Observer the campaign had 30 field offices and 300 staffers in the state. The campaign has also said it had signed up 40,000 volunteers.
“Hillary Clinton has been committed to North Carolina from day one and has a robust ground game to show for it,” spokesman Andrew Bates said Wednesday. “Chelsea Clinton helped open our 31st office yesterday and we are actively recruiting volunteers and talking with voters about Hillary Clinton’s plans to build an economy for everyone, not just those at the top.”
Jim Morrill: 704-358-5059, @jimmorrill
she’ll be in raleigh and cary tomorrow
This story was originally published September 14, 2016 at 5:55 PM with the headline "Lara Trump helps ramp up NC ground game."