Trump plans Albuquerque visit Thursday

ALBUQUERQUE -- Expect a big and enthusiastic crowd when former President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally Thursday in Albuquerque - as well as a boost for GOP candidates up and down the ballot, said Republican Party of New Mexico Chairman Steve Pearce.

"When that plane rolls up, and he steps out, I will guarantee you you're not going to be able to control the enthusiasm," Pearce said.

Others, are less enthusiastic.

"I'm disappointed that Donald Trump is bringing his cruel, racist schtick to New Mexico - home to the nation's largest percentage of Hispanic residents - just days after his buddy called our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters 'garbage' at a campaign rally in New York," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement, referring to a comedian who referred to Puerto Rico as "a floating island of garbage" during a rally Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

Trump's visit to New Mexico, which will "gin up enthusiasm" for other Republicans on the ballot, Pearce said, shows his campaign thinks the state is in play in the presidential race, even though it hasn't voted for a Republican presidential candidate in two decades.

"I've watched Trump carefully since 2016, and they don't do things casually," Pearce said. "They're very well informed when they do things."

Democratic Party of New Mexico spokesperson Daniel Garcia countered Trump isn't coming to the state to win over New Mexican votes.

"He wants to use our state as a sounding board to espouse his divisive rhetoric as part of his Blue State hate tour," Garcia said in a statement.

"Trump knows he cannot win New Mexico - he has already resoundingly lost here twice and recent polling and early voter data indicate that he is well on his way to doing so again," Garcia said. "With his campaign's hurtful rhetoric targeting Hispanic communities and Project 2025 agenda that would raise taxes on working families and cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations, Trump is wasting his time in the city he already owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to."

Trump's last visit to Albuquerque, in 2019, resulted in the city billing his campaign more than $200,000 - a sum that remains unpaid and has climbed to $444,986 with interest, according to the city of Albuquerque.

The Republican Party of New Mexico said in a statement "the surge of enthusiasm" in Trump's visit "signals New Mexicans' growing frustration with the radical policies of" Vice President Kamala Harris and all Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez.

"This rally is more than a single event; it's a movement to redefine New Mexico's future," Leticia Muñoz, the party's executive director, said in a statement. "Democrats have pushed too far left, and New Mexicans are ready for change."

Thursday's Halloween rally, which will be staged at a private hangar near the Albuquerque International Sunport, is scheduled to start at noon. Attendees will be shuttled to the event from Isleta Amphitheater, according to the state GOP.

The Sunport issued a news release noting the rally will be held at CSI Aviation, a fixed based operator located south of the main terminal, and not at the airport's main terminal.

"The Sunport anticipates no impacts to commercial flight operations for this event," the news release states.

Pearce said anticipation for Trump's rally started to build as soon as word about a possible visit by the GOP presidential nominee started to get out.

"I'm expecting, whatever capacity that hangar holds, I think it'll be full," said Pearce, who guessed the venue would accommodate 5,000 to 6,000 people.

The Trump team initially looked into holding the rally at the Albuquerque Convention Center and Expo New Mexico but was turned down, according to state Rep. Jim Townsend, R-Artesia.

Ray Roa, the convention center's general manager, said "repair cleanouts in the convention center that run to the main water supply line" had been scheduled in advance and no events are scheduled from Wednesday to Friday.

"Last week, the Albuquerque Convention Center received a space inquiry from a representative of Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc.," Roa said in a statement. "They were informed that the Albuquerque Convention Center is unavailable to accommodate the space inquiry for their requested date of Oct 31, 2024."

Trump held a rally at the convention center in 2016 during his first presidential run. The event turned violent outside when police confronted scores of protesters who tried to rush the doors of the facility about the same time Trump took the stage.

Protesters also threw bottles and rocks at officers on horseback, lit fires and overturned trash cans, prompting police to fire pepper spray.