Jill Biden, Donald Trump Jr. Bringing Presidential Campaign Messages To Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota is getting extra attention from the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Joe Biden this week.

Donald Trump Jr. will lead a "Make America Great Again" rally at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center on Wednesday night. Jill Biden was set to visit an elementary school in Prior Lake with Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Education Minnesota President Denise Specht as part of her national "Back-to-School Tour."

Presidential daughter-in-law Lara Trump will lead an event at the Intercontinental Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport Hotel on Thursday night.

Trump lost Minnesota by only about 45,000 votes in 2016 and has made carrying the state a priority this year. The Trump campaign is trying to build on his support in greater Minnesota and the outer Twin Cities suburbs, while Biden is counting on strong Democratic turnout in the Twin Cities and inner suburbs.

The president last campaigned in Minnesota on Aug. 17 in Mankato, where he stressed law-and-order themes. Biden has said he intends to visit Minnesota, too, but last campaigned in the state in December 2017.

No Republican has carried Minnesota since 1972. But Trump's team is increasingly confident about his chances and they're dwarfing Biden's television advertising budget in the state over the coming weeks.

(© Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)