Trump family member to kick off re-election campaign in Butler County

HAMILTON — Butler County Republicans will set the stage in February for President Donald Trump’s re-election bid at the county GOP’s biggest fundraiser of the year by featuring a member of the Trump family.

The president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, wife of Eric Trump, will rally county Republicans as the keynote speaker at the Feb. 27 Lincoln Day Dinner at Jungle Jim’s Oscar Event Center in Fairfield.

“Lara Trump is an important part of the inner White House leadership, and of course, she is a member of the First Family,” said Butler County GOP Executive Chair Todd Hall.

STATE NEWS: Ohio Gov. DeWine criticizes plan to cut 42 minor league baseball teams

Trump’s appearance at Butler County’s 2020 Trump Victory Campaign in February indicates the Republicans feel good about their position, said Miami University political science professor Chris Kelley.

“I think that if they believed they were in any way weak in Butler County, it would be somebody heavier, like Vice President (Mike) Pence, and even (the president’s eldest son) Donald Trump Jr., who came here to Oxford in 2016,” he said.

Kelley said Lara Trump will make the first of several visits by the Trump family to Ohio, including President Trump, “to remind Ohio voters, and particularly voters here in Butler County, of the investment that the Trump Administration has made.”

Kelley said the Trump campaign had made a significant campaign investment in this state “that’s unlike their 2016 campaign.”

America First Policies, the super PAC backing President Trump’s re-election bid, said Ohio is a must-win state in 2020, according to Cleveland.com. Former White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a Marion Country Club event in June, “The road to re-election for Donald Trump cannot go anywhere but through Ohio,” according to Reuters.

President Trump made several visits to Ohio during his 2016 presidential campaign, including a pre-primary visit in West Chester Twp. in March 2016. He made several visits to Hamilton County, including in Cincinnati, where he made the Queen City his first stop in his post-election “Thank You” tour.

Hall said Butler County is the “cornerstone Republican county” in the state, and “we are again ready to lead.”

“Lara Trump’s visit here will add to an already excited base, eager to re-elect our president,” he said.