natasaadzic/iStockBy LIBBY CATHEY, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — With five days until Election Day, and President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden racing toward Nov. 3, nearly 80 million Americans have already cast their ballots — an early voting record.
Thursday brings both Trump and Biden to Tampa, Florida, revealing how crucial the swing state is to both campaigns, with the contest overshadowed by coronavirus cases rising there and in every battleground state.
The president’s aggressive, defensive strategy comes as polls show him trailing nationally and in battleground states key to his reelection hopes. First lady Melania Trump joins him for the first time. After his rally in Tampa, Trump holds a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, while Vice President Mike Pence is in Iowa and Nevada.
At his Tampa rally, Biden is expected to continue branding the race as a “battle for the soul of the nation” at a drive-in event, after an earlier event in Broward County. Running mate California Sen. Kamala Harris has a virtual voter mobilization event with the “Divine Nine” — historically Black fraternities and sororities — then an evening virtual rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Here is how the Thursday is developing. All times Eastern:
Oct 29, 1:25 pm
COVID-19 election battleground state tracker
As the country enters what many scientists are calling a new wave of the coronavirus pandemic and the presidential candidates make their final pitches to voters in battleground states, here’s today’s update of the COVID-19 situation in 13 states ABC News rates as competitive for the presidential election (either toss-ups, leaning Democrat or leaning Republican).
Eight battleground states — Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin — are experiencing a rise in all three metrics: cases, hospitalizations and deaths.
Rate of positivity:
- Increased in 12 states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin
- Decreased in one state: New Hampshire
- Increased in ten states: Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin
- Flat in three states: Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada
- Increasing in eight states: Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin
- Decreasing in four states: Arizona, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada
- Flat in one state: Georgia
Oct 29, 1:14 pm
Election officials warn Trump’s Tampa rally may cause traffic delays for early voters
Trump’s rally in Tampa on Thursday may cause traffic delays which could lead to longer wait times for potential early voters, Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections Office warned in a statement.
The president’s rally is set to be held in a parking lot at Raymond James Stadium, which is also being used as an early voting site in Hillsborough County.
The Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections office said the event “could cause traffic delays” on Thursday for those looking to vote and the office reminded voters that there are 26 early voting sites available around the county.
The elections office also pointed out that while “electioneering” is not allowed within 150 feet of an early voting site, they say the “rally and campaigners will be outside of this zone” and that the Supervisor of Elections Office “cannot prohibit campaign activities outside this ‘”no solicitation zone.'”
The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
-ABC News’ Will Steakin
Oct 29, 12:28 pm
Trump, Biden appeal to Latino voters in Florida
For the first time in the 2020 race both presidential candidates will actively campaign in the same state on the same day to court the all-important senior and Latino votes in the swing state of Florida. Latinos, in particular, are expected to make up the largest minority group in the 2020 electorate.
While Florida isn’t a must-win state for Biden, Trump generating strong numbers among Latino voters in Florida strengthens his path to the state’s 29 electoral votes, which he won in 2016 by just 1 percentage point.
And a new NBC News/Marist poll in Florida out today shows Biden trailing Trump by six-points in support from the Latino community, though he still maintains a slight edge nationally.
Because of GOP ground efforts, Republicans have out-registered Democrats in the state — and the Trump campaign is hoping his firm anti-lockdown stance might appeal to some working class Latinos and turn out more support for the president. Stumping to Latino voters in Arizona Wednesday, Trump talked about the “American Dream Plan,” a new plan targeted toward Latino and Hispanic communities nationwide that he’s expected to tout again today.
But the Biden campaign is pushing back on that notion that Trump is ahead with Latinos in Florida, arguing in a call with reporters this morning that internal numbers show Biden on par with the support former President Barack Obama had in 2012 and claiming that samples of Latinos in external polling aren’t representative of the actual Latino community.
When asked by ABC’s Senior White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega what specifics it is taking issue with in the Marist/NBC poll, the campaign argued the polling only sampled a small portion of the community and weighted the results.
“I think pollsters often times… see our community as a monolith. And I think campaigns, up until ours have done the same,” said Julie Chavez-Rodriguez, Biden’s Deputy campaign manager.
While the NBC poll shows Trump ahead with Latinos and Biden up with seniors, an ABC News poll of Florida voters just one month ago found the exact opposite — with Biden up 13 points with Latinos and Trump up eight points with senior voters.
Oct 29, 12:07 pm
DNC running mobile billboards around Trump’s rally that focus on COVID-19 cases
With both Trump and Biden hitting the trail in Tampa this afternoon, Democrats — hoping to divert attention from Trump’s rival rally — are circling the president’s venue with counterprogramming highlighting what they view as his failed response to the coronavirus pandemic.
In new billboards that are set to be unveiled at the Raymond James Stadium, the Democratic National Committee blames the president for his handling of the virus, which it contends has led to more than 16,500 deaths in Florida alone and more than a million lost jobs in the state.
“COVID cases are spiking. This administration failed us,” a mobile billboard deployed by the Democratic National Committee reads. The DNC also set up a digital billboard two miles south of the stadium to target a wider swath of potential Democratic voters.
“We’re delivering a message to voters in Tampa they won’t be able to miss: Trump’s failed, incompetent coronavirus response has cost too many Floridians their lives and livelihoods,” said DNC Chair Tom Perez. “Floridians of every political persuasion will hold him accountable for this record of failure and his years of broken promises by following through on their plan to vote and making him a one-term president.”
It’s not just Trump the DNC is trolling, billboards are also set for Reno to greet Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday.
-ABC News’ Kendall Karson
Oct 29, 9:51 am
Overview: Trump, Biden hold dueling rallies in battleground Florida
Even as markets plunge and a new surge in coronavirus cases sweeps the country — with some states imposing new restrictions — Trump continues to close his reelection campaign by urging largely maskless crowds of supporters to dismiss the evidence. Trump insists the nation is “rounding the turn” on the pandemic, and to take his word that the economy is swiftly recovering.
The president is expected to continue that message today with campaign rallies in Florida and North Carolina — states he won in 2016 — seeking to defend his electoral map to a potential win. For the first time in the 2020 cycle, first lady Melania Trump will join her husband on the trail, attempting to bring an appeal to suburban women, a demographic Trump is struggling with.
He’s also expected to tout the gross domestic product (GDP) report out this morning showing the economy grew at an annual rate of 33.1% during the third quarter — the largest ever quarterly growth in data — but this figure comes on the heels of the biggest drop ever when the economy shrank 31.4% as the country shut down.
Like the president, Biden is also in the Sunshine State vying for Florida’s 29 electoral votes — hosting drive-in rallies in Broward County and Tampa.
The two will appear just hours apart in Tampa, near the western end of the I-4 corridor — the interstate that cuts through the middle of Florida from Dayton Beach through Orlando and down to St. Petersburg — that’s thought to be a bellwether region in the swing state. It’s the first time both candidates have actively campaigned in the same state on the same day in the presidential race.
Biden’s has framed his closing argument to voters on responsible pandemic management, acknowledging to voters Wednesday that even if he’s elected, the path to normal won’t be like “flipping a switch.” He has also hammered his plan for a national strategy to beat the virus and tried to set an example by wearing a mask and holding drive-in rallies to maintain social distancing.
The former vice president heads later this week to three more states Trump won in 2016 — Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan — where he’ll hold a drive-in rally Saturday with former President Barack Obama, their first joint appearance of 2020.
Biden’s running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris will participate in a virtual voter mobilization event with the Divine Nine — known formally as the National Pan-Hellenic Council and consisting of nine historically Black fraternities and sororities, including Alpha Kappa Alpha which Harris joined at Howard University. In the evening, she has a virtual rally with another former Democratic primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. as the ticket makes its final pitch to more progressive voters.
Pence speaks at campaign rallies in Des Moines, Iowa, and Reno, Nevada — a state which Hillary Clinton won by only 2.5 points in 2016 as Republicans seek to maintain their map and potentially pick up the Copper State.
Oct 29, 9:54 am
Contrasting images match competing themes in final election stretch
This time next week — give or take a few days, perhaps — the images of the closing days of this election will be held out as evidence that of course things would turn out the way they did.
Thursday will bring both Trump and Biden to Tampa, Florida, for rallies just five days before Election Day.
Trump will draw an enormous crowd. He will almost certainly mock Biden for not doing the same — hoping his ability to draw a crowd inspires enthusiasm among his supporters.
Biden will hold a “drive-in rally” where honks will be more prevalent than chants. He will almost certainly attack Trump for holding a massive public gathering in the midst of the pandemic — hoping his choices match better with how voters are living their lives.
On one level, Trump and Biden have adapted their campaigns to the extraordinary circumstances of the moment. Considered another way, they are using images to say something more about themselves as leaders — in how they view the severity of the crisis, and how a leader should act.
The numbers — polling, early vote and even COVID-19 spikes — point toward a favorable environment for Biden and his view of the race. Trump’s political career, though, has been built on a sense that he knows better than any numbers might suggest. If nothing else, as the campaign ends, he will act like he has from the start.
-ABC News’ Political Director Rick Klein
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