MINNEAPOLIS — Polls in Minnesota are looking close right now between President Trump and Democratic contender Joe Biden. This week - the Hill reported the two were nearly tied.
The statewide survey done by the Trafalgar Group shows Biden polling at 46.9 percent and the president at 46.5 percent, with a Margin of error of 2.98 percent.
This is a tight race in a state that historically leans Democrat during presidential races. This is something the MN GOP hopes to build on.
Having just returned from official Republican National Convention business in Charlotte, North Carolina, MN GOP Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan described what is happening in Minnesota as historic.
"In terms of investment from a national level, and field program and outreach, Republicans in Minnesota have never seen this level in the history of our party," Carnahan said in a Zoom conference call with reporters. "They're not just focused on greater Minnesota, they're actually covering the entire state."
Carnahan said with more than 60 full time paid staffers in Minnesota, the GOP has made direct contact with more than 2 million voters.
Their targets, among a few others are focused on what she calls 'Trump disengagers,' and people who have shied away from the Democratic party.
"We want to make sure all those folks turn back out, and I think there's over 100,000 [of] what we are calling Trump disengagers," she explained. "They showed up to vote for the president in 2016, but didn't show up to vote in 2018. We want to make sure we get every single one of those voters back to the polls on November 3rd."
She said judging from what she heard in Charlotte, Minnesota is for sure a high-interest swing state.
"I think there is no question that Minnesota is probably the top flip opportunity in the entire country in terms of the electoral map, and it was interesting, when I was in Charlotte, walking around on the floor talking to my peers from these other states, everyone was coming up to me saying all eyes are on you Jennifer," she said. "We're going to be watching your state, election night."
She added that part of the outreach work she's doing is to also empower voters of color - one of the main reasons she became co-chair of the Asian American Pacific Islander Member Caucus of the GOP.
We asked Chairwoman Carnahan her thoughts on the president's use of the terms, "China Virus," "Wuhan Virus," or "Kung Flu." Donald Trump Jr. also referred to Joe Biden as "Beijing Biden" on the first night of the RNC.
"Our Caucus does not find any of the statements by the president to be offensive," Carnahan said. "When the president refers to the coronavirus as the China virus, he is simply talking about the country it originated in and a lot of other viruses in the past have been labeled as such. So I think that people are completely misconstruing his words and it has absolutely nothing to do with racism. It's more about origination."
"And regarding Joe Biden, calling him Beijing Biden, the concern that we all have with Joe Biden's candidacy for president is that he won't stand up to China," she continued. "If Joe Biden is sitting in the White House in January, he is going to let China basically take over the entire world."
Chairwoman Carnahan said she will be returning to D.C. before Thursday to be on-hand as the president makes his acceptance speech from the White House. She said other delegates from Minnesota will travel to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to meet up with delegates from that state to host a watch party.