RENO, Nev. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence plans a rally Thursday at Reno-Tahoe International Airport, hoping to drum up support in Nevada, a state President Trump lost by only 2.4 percentage points in 2016.

Both presidential campaigns have blitzed Nevada in the final run to Election Day, albeit in contrasting fashions. Trump has spoken at three rallies in the state, all held in defiance of statewide guidelines limiting large public gatherings. Pence's Reno event will be his second appearance in the state, after he rallied supporters in Boulder City on Oct. 8.

Former Vice President Joe Biden completed a two-day swing through Las Vegas in early October, and Sen. Kamala Harris has visited the state three times, appearing at small rallies, drive-up events and roundtable discussions targeting groups Democrats hope to turn out.

The latest appearamce by Pence comes days after reports of a coronavirus outbreak in his office. After being exposed to infected staff members, including his chief of staff Marc Short, Pence tested negative for COVID-19. The White House approved Pence’s swing-state tour, claiming guidelines on the activities of essential workers allowed the vice president to exempt himself from quarantine and continue campaigning.

His decision to continue campaigning has brought pushback from the Committee to Protect Medicare, a political action committee that opposes President Trump's reelection bid.

In a letter signed by more than 250 doctors, including five from Nevada, the group criticized Pence for holding rallies in defiance of guidelines that would have him quarantine and in spite of evidence showing large political rallies of mostly mask-less individuals have been linked to the spread of the virus.

Dr. Nita Schwartz, an emergency physician from Genoa, Nevada, said she worried about the rally exacerbating the surge in new cases.

“Repeating a reckless, risky event like a packed campaign rally is just asking for trouble. When the vice resident goes back to Washington ... my colleagues and I will have to put on our N95 masks and deal with the consequences of his super-spreader event,” Schwartz said.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the letter.

The rally is the Trump campaign's second attempt to gather supporters at the Reno-Tahoe airport, which denied permits to host a rally in September due to Nevada's limits on large public gatherings. Trump was forced to relocate the event to Minden-Tahoe Airport in rural Douglas County. State inspectors later fined the county and the airport over the event.

On Monday, the lease holder at the Reno airport hangar, longtime GOP donor Perry Di Loreto, signed an agreement requiring the Republican National Committee to adhere to all Nevada COVID-19 restrictions, including a 250-person attendance cap and mandatory masks.

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AP writer Scott Sonner contributed. Metz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.