First Lady Jill Biden will visit Virginia Beach on Thursday in advance of the first presidential debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
The Biden campaign sent out an announcement Tuesday that Jill Biden was to “to greet Virginia volunteers and supporters ahead of the first presidential debate.”
The time and location of the Virginia Beach event was not immediately released. The president and former president face off at 9 p.m. Thursday in Atlanta in the first of two scheduled debates between the men.
Trump is expected to host a campaign rally on Friday in Chesapeake, the day after the debate. The Trump event will begin at 3 p.m. at the Historic Greenbrier Farms, with Gov. Glenn Youngkin expected to attend.
A Republican candidate hasn’t won a presidential race in the Old Dominion since President George W. Bush bested Sen. John Kerry in 2004.
GOP presidential candidates have lost four straight times in Virginia after that, including Biden’s 54% to 44% victory over Trump here four years ago.
But polls show a much tighter race in the commonwealth this time around, with Trump increasingly boasting at rallies that Virginia and several other blue states are now “in play.”
A Roanoke College poll released in May showed Biden and Trump tied in a head-to-head matchup in Virginia, with Biden leading by two points when other candidates were included.
A group of 18 recent polls compiled by The Hill, a Washington publication, also show a virtual dead heat in Virginia.
Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com
