As recent polls show Democrat Hillary Clinton extending her lead in Virginia—a key battleground state in the past two presidential elections—Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announced a Saturday rally at the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center.

In an effort to stop his post-convention slide, Trump shook up his campaign staff Wednesday morning. Then local supporters discovered around noon that he would become the first presidential nominee to campaign in Fredericksburg since Barack Obama in 2008.

The event begins at 6 p.m. and doors open at 3 p.m. Tickets are free, but attendees must register in advance. There is a limit of two tickets per mobile phone number per event.

Clinton, who picked Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate, led Trump in several recent polls, including 46 to 33 among registered Virginia voters in the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist survey and 52–38 in a Washington Post poll released this week.

“I actually believe [Trump] will take Virginia,” said Michael Hirsch, chairman of the Fredericksburg Republican Committee and the Fredericksburg Virginia Patriots. “The primaries have been attended with record-breaking attendance. I believe that groundswell is going to make the difference.

“People are just tired of a broken Washington, broken politics. … America is saying ‘enough is enough.’ Bring on the outsider. I believe that what he will stir as a response in Virginia will give us back statewide races.”

Hirsh said Trump’s planned appearance underscores Virginia’s position as a battleground state this fall. He said Clinton’s selection of Kaine “is indication of how weak she saw herself here.”

Hirsch said local Republican committees have been working to bring Trump to Fredericksburg. He learned around noon Wednesday that the nominee would hold a rally here in just three days and was working to get the word out to fellow supporters.

“I think even though it’s last minute, I would look for at least 5,000” people in attendance Saturday, he said.

The Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center can hold about 3,400 inside its two exhibition halls, according to its website. Ballrooms can hold hundreds more. There are more than 1,000 parking spaces available.

Virginia Democrats used the news of Trump’s visit to highlight his refusal to release his tax returns.

“Donald Trump’s trip to Fredericksburg comes at a time when Virginians are fed up with his tax plans that benefit him and his wealthy friends at the expense of Virginia’s working families, along with Trump’s continued refusal to release his tax returns for the public to see. This unprecedented lack of transparency and accountability has left Virginians wondering: ‘What’s he hiding?’ ” said Emily Bolton, communications director of the Democratic Party of Virginia.

Local officials began readying for the rally as soon as the visit became official.

Fredericksburg Fire Department Deputy Chief Mike Jones said he and Fire Chief Ed Allen Jr. have been working with other departments in the city and Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, private entities and federal agencies, including the Secret Service, to develop a plan for handling the event.

He said the fire department will need to have enough emergency medical technicians at the expo center to handle anything related to the candidate, his team and those attending the rally, as well as any 911 calls that come in.

Jones said the various departments and agencies were going to hold additional meetings Wednesday night and Thursday, and should have plans mostly nailed down by this evening. They’ll be tweaked depending on such things as the weather.

He said it helps that the rally will be held at the expo center, because Carl D. Silver Parkway, which leads to it, has four lanes, and there is plenty of parking.

“We’ve had presidential candidates come to the city before,” he said, citing Obama’s stop at UMW when he was running for president in 2008. “It’s a matter of working with local, state and federal officials.”

Obama campaigned at the University of Mary Washington in September of 2008. The crowd estimate for that event was 26,000.

Fredericksburg Police Department spokeswoman Sarah Kirkpatrick asks that people plan ahead for Saturday, “as we expect heavy traffic and temporary road closures leading up to the event.”

In October 2012, then-vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan spoke to a crowd of about 2,800 during a stop at the expo center.