SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Nexstar) — President Donald Trump made stops in San Antonio and the Houston area Wednesday as part of his fundraising trip in the Lone Star State.
The president landed in San Antonio late morning. He met with supporters and spoke during a fundraising committee lunch.
“I think it’s huge,” Bexar County GOP Chairwoman Cynthia Brehm said. “I have asked him to come for a long time.”
Brehm said President Trump’s visit to San Antonio makes her fired up for 2020. She’s also motivated by the Republican Party’s triumphs in her community last year, such as voters sending Texas State Sen. Pete Flores to the legislature.
“That kind of sets the precedent as we move forward,” she said. “But what we need in Bexar County is that we need to rally the troops. We need to get our ground game running and we need to go forward as we go into 2020.”
“The strong growth we have seen under him, the strong growth we’ve seen under Republican policies, in general, is the reason for more and more Texans turning to support Republicans,” Texas Republican Party Chairman James Dickey added.
From San Antonio, the President headed to Crosby and then to Houston for another joint fundraising committee gathering.
He also signed an executive order on energy and infrastructure. It aims to prevent states from blocking pipelines and other infrastructure, rolling back energy regulations.
Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro, who served as the U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in former President Barack Obama’s administration, is scheduled to hold what his campaign calls an “anti-Trump, People First rally” in the Alamo City later this evening.
“I’m convinced that in 2020, Texas is going to be a battleground state,” he said in an interview with KXAN. “Texas is part of the future for the Democratic Party.”
Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa issued a statement calling Texas “the biggest battleground state” and added that “Texas is fighting back and [President Trump’s] poll numbers are plummeting.”
Castro is also vying to win his home state.
“I believe that I can motivate voters to get out, not only here and Bexar County, but throughout the state,” he said.
President Trump was most recently in Texas for a rally in El Paso in February.
