When Donald Trump comes to town, huge crowds will follow -- at least the state party chairman thinks so.
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On Wednesday, the Republican presidential front-runner will host a rally at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock. Doyle Webb, chairman of the Republican Party of Arkansas, believes it will shatter a campaign record.
The coliseum has a maximum capacity of 10,195, according to the Arkansas State Fair's website. If supporters pack the coliseum, they would be a part of the biggest rally the state has seen in the 2016 election cycle.
"Certainly it will be the largest rally -- even if he doesn't completely fill it," Webb said. "I believe it could be the largest political event that we'll see this presidential season."
Trump and his Republican rivals have drawn crowds in the thousands in previous visits to Arkansas, but nothing close to the coliseum's capacity.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz drew a total of about 1,100 in Little Rock, Russellville and Van Buren in August and 1,400 in North Little Rock in December. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, drew more than 1,200 in West Memphis in August and more than 2,000 in Little Rock in October. Carly Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, drew about 1,400 in Springdale in October.
Trump drew more than 1,000 to the Reagan-Rockefeller dinner -- the largest fundraiser of the year for the state Republican Party -- held in Hot Springs in July. Tickets cost $150 for a dinner seat. Speech-only tickets were $75. Dinner tickets sold out. A few dozen riser seats were empty.
At Wednesday's rally, the event is free, but attendees are asked to register at http://bit.ly/1NFXHah. Doors open at 3 p.m. and the rally starts at 5 p.m.
In Hot Springs, Trump said his rise in the polls had been because of plain talk.
"They said he'll never run, the genius pundits," Trump said in July. "Then they said they'd never fill out his forms. Well, I did that three weeks ago. Then they said he'll never file his financials."
"The bottom line is that I'm running. I'm going to make this country so strong and you're going to be so proud."
At the time of his Hot Springs speech, Trump was under fire for comments on Mexicans.
Trump said in a June 16 speech in New York: "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."
The day after the dinner, Trump said U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is "not a war hero."
"He's a war hero because he was captured," Trump said, referring to McCain's time as a POW in the Vietnam War. "I like people who weren't captured."
It's unusual for a presidential candidate to visit Arkansas in early February -- especially before New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina hold their primaries.
Webb said the state's decision to move its primary to March 1 was a key factor.
The Arkansas Legislature voted to move the primary date from May 24 to March 1 during a special session in May, helping to create an "SEC Primary" with other Southern states. Participants are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
"We are a player," Webb said. "He's trying to hit all of the ... early primary states."
Janine Parry, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas, said Trump may also be trying to edge out his rivals among a key voting bloc.
"The two closest challengers are more closely aligned with the religious conservatives that drive Southern primaries," she said. "I wonder if he's trying to do better than expected here."
In national polls, Trump is leading his rivals while Cruz is second.
The Arkansas Livestock Show Association, which owns Barton Coliseum, rents it for $3,500 per day, according to its website.
The association, a nonprofit, runs the State Fair and does not disclose its contracts, said Will Hornburg, director of sales and promotions for the association.
"This is just a building rental," he said. "This one is definitely a lot more newsworthy, but from our end it's just a building rental."
Metro on 01/30/2016