What can Trump gain by visiting reliably blue Colorado? PoliSci expert explains

Former President Donald Trump visits Aurora on Friday, marking the first time either major-party presidential candidate has visited the Denver area during this election cycle.

It’s the second Colorado visit for Trump, who was in Aspen for a fundraiser in August.

Colorado is reliably blue, with the majority of the state’s vote going to the Democratic presidential candidate in each of the last four general elections. So, what does the Republican nominee have to gain from his stop in the Centennial State?

We took that question to Robert Preuhs, the chair of the political science department at Metropolitan State University in Denver, who told us: “It’s not really an audience of Colorado, it’s an audience nationally.”

Immigration is the No. 2 concern among voters in this election, according to recent data published by the Pew Research Center . According to that data, voters listed the economy as their top concern.

“I think he's really trying to underscore that immigration issue, really to bring it to the fore,” Preuhs said. “So this is a great press up, a way to kind of tie in some of those earlier promises to come out to Colorado and really underscore that issue for his voters.”

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Preuhs added that a visit from Trump could also have an impact in Colorado’s elections, even if it doesn’t move the needle nationally.

“We do have a really competitive Congressional District 8 race,” he said, “and whether the candidates have distanced themselves from both of the presidential candidates [it’s] probably going to trickle down a little bit.”

Incumbent Democrat Yadira Caraveo and Republican Gabe Evans are likely to square off for District 8, with Chris Baum (Approval Voting Party), Susan Hall (Unity Party) and James Treibert (Unaffiliated) also on the ballot.

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We spent several hours at the Stanley Marketplace – located in Aurora about eight miles from the Gaylord Rockies but just 1.5 miles from the run-down apartment complexes that have become the face of Trump's immigration stance – to ask residents how they were feeling ahead of Trump's visit. Here is what they said: