Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will hold a rally at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield Saturday, according to his campaign.
It will be his fourth visit over the past few months to the state where he used to own a home. Trump visited Hartford, Bridgeport, and Waterbury before the April 26 primary.
A June Quinnipiac University poll had Hillary Clinton with a seven-point lead over Trump, whose campaign has said Connecticut is in play this November.
Connecticut Republican Party Chairman JR Romano said that Connecticut is definitely in play.
“This race is much closer than the media and the Democrats want to believe,” Romano said.
FiveThirtyEight.com gives Clinton a 93 percent chance of winning Connecticut’s seven electoral votes, while Trump’s chances are 6.9 percent.
Romano said Trump and his campaign are rewriting the electoral map, so he understands that it’s hard for people to believe a Republican could win a traditionally blue state.
Scott McLean, a political science professor from Quinnipiac University, said holding a Connecticut rally “is the least odd thing he’s done lately.”
McLean said Trump has some pockets of support in the state even if the odds are against him winning.
“This is a chance for him to be a leader in a state where Republicans are fighting to take back the General Assembly,” McLean said. “Maybe Trump could make the different there.”
McLean doubted Trump would be able to help any of the Congressional candidates defeat the five Democratic incumbents in the House.
Leigh Appleby, a spokesman for the Connecticut Democratic Party, said Trump does not represent Connecticut values.
“From inciting violence against his political opponent, to insulting a Gold Star family, to mocking a reporter with a physical disability, Trump has shown time and time again that he is temperamentally unfit and lacks the judgment to serve as commander-in-chief,” Appleby said in a statement Wednesday.
Former U.S. Rep. Chris Shays, who was the last Republican in Congress to represent Connecticut, announced this week in a CNN editorial that he was voting for Clinton.
“While no candidate is perfect and while nothing is certain, I am convinced that Hillary Clinton has what it takes to make our government truly work as our Founding Fathers intended,” Shays wrote. “That is why as a Republican she has my strong support, and my vote this November.”