It’s been twenty years since a Republican ran for office New Mexico in presidential elections.

You have to go back to President George W. Bush’s re-election in 2004.

But former President Trump, taking a brief detour from his campaign in the seven crucial battleground states that will likely determine whether he or Vice President Kamala becomes the next president, parachuted into the one-time swing state that is now leaning blue.

“Look, I’m only here for one reason,” Trump told supporters Thursday at a rally in Albuquerque, the state’s largest city.

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Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, arrives at a campaign rally at the Albuquerque International Sunport in Albuquerque, NM on Thursday, October 31, 2024 (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

“They said, ‘Oh, a Republican can’t win that state.’ They say a Republican can’t win. But you know what? We’re going to win,” the former president optimistically predicted.

Trump also said his stop in New Mexico was good for his “credentials” with Hispanic voters.

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‘I’m here for one simple reason. “I like you a lot, and it’s good for my credentials with the Hispanic or Latino community,” he argued.

The former president is facing backlash from some Latino voters after a comedian speaking at his major rally in New York City on Sunday called Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”

There haven’t been many polls in New Mexico, but most recent surveys show the vice president with a single-digit lead over the former president. Although one study suggested there would be more competition for the state’s five electoral votes.

Former President Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, arrives at a campaign rally at the Albuquerque International Sunport in Albuquerque, NM on Thursday, October 31, 2024 (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

As time becomes a precious commodity for presidential campaigns and the clock ticks rapidly election day, Democrats in New Mexico said Trump’s trip to the state — his first in five years — is a fool’s errand.

“Trump is wasting his time coming to our state as polls show New Mexicans will once again reject his MAGA extremism and divisive rhetoric,” Daniel Garcia, spokesman for the Democratic Party of New Mexico, claimed in a statement prior to the former president’s visit.

Referring to the former president’s Oct. 31 stop in Albuquerque, Garcia made a verbal attack on Trump, saying, “There will be a round orange mass in Albuquerque on Halloween, and we’re not talking about a pumpkin.”

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Trump urged his supporters to vote, saying, “New Mexico. Look, don’t make me waste a whole damn half day here, okay.”

While the former president’s rally in New Mexico five days before Election Day may not give him a boost in the battle for the state’s five electoral votes, it could give Republicans a boost.

New Mexico Republican Senate candidate Nella Domenici campaigns in Carlsbad, NM, October 29, 2024 (Nella Domenici Senate Campaign)

Nella Domenici, the Republican Party of 2024 Candidate for the Senate and the daughter of New Mexico’s last Republican senator, is trying to defeat Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich, who is running for a third six-year term in November as her party works to regain the House majority.

“Trump is definitely going to help us with the independents,” Domenici predicted in a Fox News Digital interview on the eve of the former president’s visit. “People are very excited that Trump is coming here.”

Domenici, who spoke at the Trump rally, emphasized that “it certainly really excites the base, and the base is kind of a growing term.”

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on our Fox News Digital election hub.