Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine Set Florida Rallies

SARASOTA, FL — With Democrat Hillary Clinton only maintaining a slight lead in Florida polls, her campaign is pulling out the stops for a weekend blitz in the Sunshine State. Clinton will make appearances in South Florida and the Orlando area. Sen. Tim Kaine plans multiple stops over the next few days, including ones in Sarasota and St. Petersburg.

Clinton has watched her poll numbers nationally and in Florida falter since FBI director James Comey announced his agency was investigating newly uncovered emails that might be related to its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private server during her time as secretary of state. Comey sent a letter to Congressional leaders last Friday, Oct. 28, just 11 days before the election.

Clinton’s campaign has also been on the defensive as WikiLeaks continues to dump emails allegedly written by or sent to Clinton campaign staffers. Among the revelations to come out of the WikiLeaks dumps is a $12 million donation from Morocco’s King Mohammed VI to the Clinton Foundation. The Clinton campaign has denounced the WikiLeaks email release, saying the hack represents an effort by the Russian government to influence the American election.

As controversy surrounds the Clinton campaign, the Democrat has watched her lead in the polls falter. On Friday, Oct. 28, she led Republican challenger Donald Trump by 4.6 percentage points in national polls, according to RealClear Politics. By Wednesday, her lead had dropped to 1.7 percentage points. The number held steady on Friday, Nov. 4.

Polls in the critical battleground state of Florida show Clinton ahead, but not by much. As of Nov. 4, RealClear Politics put the Democrat ahead in the Sunshine State by 1.2 percentage points. That was up from the 0.7 percentage point lead Trump enjoyed on Thursday.

With the end of the campaign trail in sight, Democrats are loading the calendar with Florida stops. Here’s a rundown of where they’ll appear:

Hillary Clinton

• The Clinton campaign has announced a South Florida stop on Saturday, Nov. 5. A location and time for the appearance have not yet been announced. The campaign, however, says Clinton’s rally will take place in the afternoon. Online RSVP’s are being accepted on the campaign website here.
• President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both plan a rally in Kissimmee on Sunday. More information can be found here.

Sen. Tim Kaine

The Democratic vice presidential nominee will make the following appearances over the next few days:

• A Get Out the Vote event is set to take place in Melbourne at 5:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4. Free tickets to the event at the Florida Institute of Technology are available on the campaign website.
• A canvass kickoff is set to take place at Florida Southwestern State College in Ft. Myers at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5. Free tickets are available here.
• Kaine plans a Sarasota canvass kickoff at the Sarasota Democratic National Committee Organizing Office at 4:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5. Tickets are available here.
• Kaine will offer remarks during the Get Out the Vote performance by Jon Bon Jovi in St. Petersburg on Saturday. That event is set to begin at 6 p.m. More information can be found here.

Image Credit: Alex Nguyen/Patch