Jeremy Fugleberg

jfugleberg@enquirer.com

With the presidential election 90 days away, the Donald Trump campaign is scrambling to set up the basics of a campaign in Hamilton County, a key county in a swing state crucial to a Republican victory, a recent internal email obtained by The Enquirer shows.

The campaign has yet to find or appoint key local leaders or open a campaign office in the county and isn't yet sure which Hamilton County Republican party's central committee members are allied with the Republican presidential nominee.

"If they are against us, we just need to know," wrote Missy Mae Walters, Southwest Ohio regional coordinator for the campaign.

Even campaign materials, such as signs and stickers, aren't yet available.

"We have been promised they're on their way," she wrote.

The campaign plans to open 25 Trump "Victory Centers" statewide, she said, but a planned Monday opening of an office in Kenwood got held up waiting for a legal department sign-off. Some volunteer training sessions have been set up with more planned, she wrote.

The email indicates a campaign whose ambition matches the urgency of its late arrival. The campaign plans to have a presence at the Labor Day union picnic event in Cincinnati, in an attempt to siphon supporters for Donald Trump's trade policies away from what would otherwise be a heavily Democratic crowd.

A request for comment from the Trump campaign in Ohio wasn't immediately returned on Wednesday.

The state of the Clinton campaign in the county and statewide stands in stark contrast. It had 12 offices open across Ohio at the end of last week, with local offices in Walnut Hills, Pleasant Ridge and Woodlawn. The campaign is opening seven more offices this week, including a Mason office on Wednesday night.

The nascent Trump campaign isn't the only pro-Trump forces in Hamilton County. There is a fervent volunteer base here, and the Republican National Committee has had organizers in place in the county and elsewhere in Ohio since 2013, and is ramping up its efforts as the election nears, said Ryan Shucard, Ohio spokesman for the RNC.

“The RNC has been on the ground in Southwest Ohio for three-plus years now," he said. "Our field staff has been organizing volunteers, registering new voters and generating support for Republican candidates up and down the ballot. Enthusiasm is high and we expect our operation to continue growing.”

Meanwhile, Walters thanked those who attended a recent unannounced visit by Trump running mate Mike Pence to Cincinnati on Saturday.

"There will be many visits over the next three months," she wrote. "We are definitely looking forward to connecting with Hamilton County."

The Enquirer will update this story.

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