Riding a new wave of momentum into what could be a decisive Super Tuesday for the GOP, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will spend at least some of this coming Tuesday in Louisville.
The real estate mogul is scheduled to hold a rally at the Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville at 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to his campaign's website. The Republican Party of Kentucky confirmed he would be in the city in an email Saturday.
Trump isn't the only Republican presidential candidate scheduled to come through Kentucky in the coming days. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson will campaign in Lexington on Monday, according to the RPK. He is scheduled to host a town hall meeting at the Lexington HIT Center at 10 a.m.
Carson, who led a crowded GOP field earlier this year, has seen his support drop in recent weeks, as the race has appeared to coalesce around Trump, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Super Tuesday -- in which 13 states vote -- is considered pivotal for both parties. But it could be particularly so this year for Republicans, whose establishment wing is working to curb Trump's momentum. For the GOP, 595 delegates are up for grabs.
The two candidates' swings through Kentucky come less than a week before state Republicans will conduct their first presidential caucus, which replaces the traditional primary.
State Republicans initially sought to change to a caucus to help Sen. Rand Paul, who was then a presidential candidate, get around a state law barring him from appearing as a candidate for two offices on the same ballot. Paul has since dropped out of the presidential contest.
RPK officials have maintained that the caucus would make Kentucky more relevant in the process of selecting a GOP presidential nominee. The visits by Trump and Carson are evidence of that growing awareness, the party said.
"By holding a caucus on March 5, Republican voters in Kentucky will have more influence on the presidential race, at a time when candidates are still competing to win more states and their delegates to secure the presidential nomination," the RPK said in a statement to press on Saturday.
