CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa • Grappling for votes — and the spotlight — as Democrats hold their national convention, President Donald Trump targeted voters in key states and constituencies Tuesday and promised a pardon for Susan B. Anthony, a leader in the women’s suffrage movement.

Trump headed for Arizona, one of the top 2020 battleground states, to press his case against his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, painting him as radically left and out of the political mainstream.

With his second trip in two days, Trump was hoping to mitigate a convention polling bump for his rival and to shore up support less than 80 days from Election Day by contrasting his position with Biden’s on immigration, one of the most important issues to his political base. He was also trying to stanch an erosion in support among female voters with a symbolic nod on the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

In recent weeks, Trump has been trying to build support within the pivotal female voter constituency and has stepped up his events aimed at women. His campaign has launched a “women for Trump” bus tour, and the president has embraced a “law and order” message with renewed vigor.

The president worked in a last-minute stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for a briefing about damage from the derecho last week that has left thousands without power and caused catastrophic damage across the battleground state. Many there have expressed outrage that their plight has not received more national attention.

The storm, which packed 100 mph winds and similar power to an inland hurricane, swept across the Midwest last week, blowing over trees, flipping vehicles and causing widespread damage. “We’ve come through for you, and we will always come through for Iowa,” Trump said, as the city’s mayor urged him to consider enhanced federal disaster funding for people there. Trump aimed to highlight his immigration agenda in Yuma, Ariz., and receive an update on construction of border wall, making his second trip to the city in less than a month. It was an effort to highlight his work to deliver on a key 2016 campaign pledge.

Before leaving, Trump held a White House event to announce the pardon of Anthony, convicted of voting in 1872 in violation of laws permitting only men to vote.

Trump’s pardon came on the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which ensured women the right to vote.

In this 1916 photo, demonstrators hold a rally for women’s suffrage in New York. The Seneca Falls convention in 1848 is widely viewed as the launch of the women’s suffrage movement, yet women didn’t gain the right to vote until ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

the associated press file