PIMA COUNTY, Ariz. (KGUN) — Former president Donald Trump will visit Tucson Thursday.
It will be his first campaign event following his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday night.
The Trump campaign complied with a new city of Tucson policy by paying a more than $145,000 deposit up front to cover costs for public safety and venue usage.
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In May, Trump was convicted of 34 criminal counts related to falsifying business records.
Many conservatives felt that process was politically motivated, including Steve Selvy who is part of the Pima County Republican Party executive committee.
He said then, the conviction would backfire against the former president’s critics.
“What I think this did, I think it just got Trump elected,” he said at that time.
Now three months later, Selvy says conservatives are still “optimistic” but with “apprehension” for fear of what the country would look like under a Harris presidency.
“And so that creates some anxiety, and hopefully a little motivation for us to work hard right up until November 5th,” he said.
Trump’s trip to Tucson on Thursday comes just three weeks after his visit to the Cochise County border before a rally in Glendale, where he was endorsed by independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“I think that shows how important Arizona is,” Selvy said of the multiple visits.
Selvy also believes the conviction and failed assassination attempt have made Trump stronger.
“There’s been so much that’s gone on, but he’s so resilient,” he said. “So I think we feel that nothing that’s been thrown at him thus far keeps him down.”
At the University of Arizona, the excitement is also building for young republican voters.
“This is a college town, and so realistically we are dealing with a population that is, on paper, very liberal,” said UA College Republicans president Lalo Mercado. “But I think it’s opening up. And you see the way that things are shifting. It’s more so about the economy and immigration. Things that are pretty easy for Republicans to win on.”
Both Selvy and Mercado said Trump handled Tuesday’s debate well. They believe the ABC News moderators were biased against Trump, and needed to do more fact-checking of Harris.
Plenty of other Tucsonans have already made up their mind on Trump.
“I don’t want him here,” said Melinda Kane, a Democratic voter. “Tucson is my home and it’s such an impressive community. And it just doesn’t fit Donald Trump’s rhetoric very well, so. I mean, he’s coming. We can’t do anything about it. But I’m not excited that he’ll be here.”
The Trump campaign is not the only one scheduled to appear in Southern Arizona on Thursday; Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff—Kamala Harris’s husband—is also set to appear at an event in Tucson.
