RICHMOND, Va. -- Former President Donald Trump rallied a crowd of thousands of supporters at the Greater Richmond Convention Center Saturday evening.
Trump urged voters to show up at the polls in hopes of a red wave in Virginia, which was a swing state but for years has trended blue. Trump lost twice in the state.
“We are going to make a big play for Virginia," Trump said. "It’s time for the Commonwealth to finally have a say in getting it done the way you want it.”
Some supporters said they arrived in downtown Richmond at 7 a.m. to make sure they were able to attend the rally.
“It’s exciting to be in Richmond today," Chasity Grace from Colonial Heights said. “It’s time to win. We want him to win again.”
Tyler Cicone from Chesterfield said it was important for the former president, who is the leading Republican candidate for the party's 2024 presidential nomination, to make a stop in the Commonwealth.
"This here will get people to rally and rallies spark conversations at home, which spreads and works for him," Cicone explained.
Virginia is one of a handful of states holding a presidential primary on Tuesday, March 5, also known as Super Tuesday.
Chris Biller from Glen Allen said he came to the rally to "support our next president” and urged attendees to "get out and vote” in the primary and again in November.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley appeared in Richmond earlier this week where she told voters to take a leap of faith and cast their ballots for her during Virginia's presidential primary on Tuesday.
WATCH: What Nikki Haley told supporters during Virginia campaign stop
"This is a decision between do we want more of the same, or do we want a new direction. More of the same is not just Joe Biden, more of the same is Donald Trump," Haley told the crowd of several hundred people at a crowded hotel ballroom off Broad Street.
Haley trails former President Donald Trump by significant margins in polling and delegate count from the states that have already held their nomination contest. The former U.N. Ambassador and Governor of South Carolina cast herself as someone who would bring the country and the Republican party back closer to "normal."
WATCH: Virginia Democrats say 4 more years of Trump would be 'catastrophic' for reproductive rights
Rep. Jennifer McClellan, a Democrat who represents the 4th District, said during a news conference before Saturday's rally that "another four years of Donald Trump would be catastrophic" for the Commonwealth and for reproductive freedom.
"We warned before Donald Trump was elected that if he got his way and Roe fell that not only would it affect access to abortion, it would affect all reproductive health care, including access to contraception, in vitro fertilization, miscarriage management management. And we've seen that play out," McClellan said. "Unfortunately, now we have cases that we can point to. Here in Virginia we had a personhood bill introduced a decade ago. We warned this would happen. Now we are seeing that play out and I think now we need to be louder to make sure everybody understands that reproductive freedom is on the ballot this November."
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