DEMS/ELECTION/VIRGINIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump is muscling into a blue state where Democrats are reeling: Virginia. With a tenuous grip on states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the president is looking for opportunities to expand his electoral playing field. He’s set his sights on Virginia, a state Democrats have dominated in the past decade, but where the party’s three top officeholders are embroiled in scandals. Leading the offensive is Vice President Mike Pence, who on Wednesday evening headlined a fundraiser in McLean for Republican state legislators up for election in November. Pence is expected to hold additional events for Virginia lawmakers in the coming months, and White House officials intend to use the 2019 elections to test whether they can make inroads in the state, which Trump lost by 5 percentage points. Trump is keenly interested in the push. Before Pence departed for the fundraiser on Wednesday, the president asked him to deliver a message to state Republicans.”
–Alex Isenstadt, “The blue state Trump thinks he can flip in 2020,” Politico, March 29, 2019 5:06 am