Virginia state Senator Amanda Chase took her gubernatorial campaign to Florida on Saturday in an apparent attempt to lobby for an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Chase attended an event at Mar-a-Lago, the luxury resort in Florida that is often a host to events for Trump, the property’s owner.
“When I told the president I was running for governor in Virginia he smiled real big and said, ‘I’ve heard about you’ while giving me a fist bump,” Chase wrote on her personal Facebook page Saturday night.
“He took my business card and put it in his pocket,” she continued. “We are meeting with his Chief of Staff next week.”
Chase is vying for the Republican nomination to run for governor of Virginia this November. The party’s governing body chose to hold an unassembled nominating convention on May 8 to select their statewide candidates.
All of the deadlines for convention delegates to apply have passed by now, however, with the convention taking place in less than two weeks.
“A Trump endorsement doesn’t actually change the state of the race very much,” said Richard Meagher, an associate professor of political science at Randolph Macon College. “The timing is less than ideal. The delegates for the convention have already been chosen.”
While that is true, convention delegates will be using ranked-choice ballots instead of the typical convention method of voting in waves. This means the delegates list the candidates in order from favorite to least favorite and turn it all in at one time If none of the candidates receive over 50% of the vote once the top votes are counted, the second ballot choices where there might be a lot less certainty ahead of time could feel the impact of a last-minute endorsement from Trump.
In addition to walking the line of supporting Trump while also not going too far and alienating the middle-of-the-road voters needed in November, candidates are also being attacked by shadow PACs for negative comments they made about Trump in the past.
“The fact that the candidates invoke Trump often suggests that his name still matters in the GOP,” Meagher said.
Chase has never walked that line, however. The state senator often refers to herself as, “Trump in heels,” and she has unapologetically supported the former president to this day. She was removed from Facebook just like Trump for her comments about the Jan. 6 insurrectionists and the 2020 election results. She also spoke at a rally in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6 prior to the Capitol building being stormed.
With only two weeks until the convention, however, it is still unclear if the former president will actually get involved in this race. There is some question as to whether how much the former president’s endorsement would benefit a candidate in a commonwealth that voted in favor of Joe Biden by 10 points last year.
“It’s true that the Republican Party, even in Virginia, is still Trump’s party,” Meagher said. “A Trump endorsement brings possible rewards, but also risks. It can help solidify chase’s base among Republican diehards who still love Trump. But it further cements her Image as an extreme candidate who can’t win the general election.”
Before attending the event at Mar-a-Lago, Chase met with retired General Michael Flynn — he served as Trump’s national security advisor for the first 22 days of his administration. He resigned after reports that he lied about conversations he had with a senior Russian diplomat. Flynn eventually pleaded guilty to two counts of lying to the F.B.I, but he was eventually pardoned by Trump.
Flynn filmed a video in support of Chase Saturday. “She is a leader, she is courageous she is tough, she is disciplined, she is savvy and she has got good god-given common sense,” Flynn said.
In addition to Chase, former House Speaker Kirk Cox, venture capitalist Pete Snyder and former executive of The Carlyle Group Glenn Youngkin are competitive for the Republican nomination for governor.
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