(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump said he believes he has a chance of winning New York in the Electoral College in November, a longtime goal of the presumptive GOP nominee that has eluded Republicans for 40 years.

“We have a good chance of winning in New York in my opinion,” Trump said Thursday morning at a campaign stop in midtown Manhattan. “I think we’re going to do very well and we’re going to make a play for New York.”

Winning New York, the state Trump called home for much of his life, is an unlikely goal for the former president. No Republican running for president has won the state since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Trump lost New York to Biden by more than 20 percentage points in 2020. 

However, there are signs Trump may be performing better in the state than he did four years ago. A Siena College poll released this week showed Biden leading Trump by 47% to 37% in New York state.

The poll found Biden has support from 72% of Democrats, while Trump has the support of 81% of Republicans and leads among independents by 46-32%.

Trump’s ongoing criminal trial over allegations of hush money payments to a porn actress will keep him in New York City for several upcoming weeks, giving him opportunities to campaign in the state. President Joe Biden is also scheduled to be in New York on Thursday to announce new money for semiconductor manufacturing and to fundraise for his campaign. 

Trump winning New York’s 28 Electoral College votes would upend the projections of many pollsters and others closely watching the election, putting him on a path to win the presidency by a wide margin.

New York is not considered a swing state. Other states, including Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina, are among those considered to be the battleground states that will likely decide the outcome of the presidential race.

A Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll released Wednesday showed Trump leading in six of seven swing states polled.

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