Republican nominee Donald Trump asked the Republican National Committee (RNC) to augment his small campaign staff by fully staffing a national campaign in all 50 states, even ones that Trump has no hope of winning.
Trump promised repeatedly during his race that he would win in historically Democratic states like New York and California, reported Politico.
As for key battleground states, Trump’s campaign only has one office in the state of Florida. Statistics site 538 reports that Florida has the greatest chance of tipping the race in any direction. In comparison, the campaign to elect Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has over a dozen offices across the state, and plans to increase that number in the coming weeks.
The RNC announced it was having trouble staffing its offices as early as the beginning of July, before the Trump campaign officially capitulated its role in attempting to staff field offices.
RNC staffers at the time hoped to get 220 full time field reps in the swing state of Ohio, but funding came through for only 50 full time positions. Pennsylvania saw a similar drop in numbers, with only 60 of the proposed 190 positions funded.
The ambitious staffing goals for the RNC last month seriously strained its ability to support down-ballot races. Other groups like the Senate Leadership Fund and the Koch network funded key Senate races to build networks that normally would already be in place with a successful presidential candidate.
This month, Trump is asking for more from the RNC, going so far as to propose a fully staffed field office in the island state of Hawaii. Statistics site 538 gives Trump a .02 percent chance of winning the state in the general election. New York has a higher percentage, with Trump only obtaining a .7 percent chance of winning the highly influential blue state.
Trump’s request comes at the same time the Republican nominee officially recognized his path to the White House was unsure. “We need help,” Trump told a crowd of supporters Thursday. “Had you voted for Romney, it would have been much closer,” Trump said. “You didn’t vote for Romney, the evangelicals. Religion didn’t get out and vote.”
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