Trump’s campaign has spread beyond early-to-vote states

Published 9:22 am Monday, February 22, 2016

WASHINGTON —Donald Trump’s unorthodox bid to win the Republican presidential nomination has some distinctly traditional trappings: offices and employees across the country.

Trump, the winner in two of the first three states in the presidential primary season, has long been laying the groundwork for more victories in March, when two dozen states go to the polls, new campaign finance reports show.

In January, his campaign had roughly 100 people on its payroll and a scattershot of field consultants and offices from Alabama to Texas, giving him a head start on connecting with voters as the primary calendar intensifies.

Email newsletter signup

“I think we’re going to do terrific,” Trump said Saturday night in South Carolina, looking ahead to March. “We expect to do very, very well.”

Trump’s efforts are disclosed in his campaign finance report filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission. The records provided by all the campaigns covered fundraising and spending in January, and do not capture any activities in the first three weeks of this month.