CORAOPOLIS — President Donald Trump waded into a potentially risky race on Thursday, throwing his support behind a Pennsylvania Republican in a contest widely viewed as a test of whether his party can stave off Democratic 2018 gains.

Speaking at a Pittsburgh-area factory, Trump praised state lawmaker Rick Saccone as “a real friend and a spectacular man.”

And he told reporters he planned to come back to Pennsylvania — where he won in 2016 — to campaign for Saccone, who is trying to keep a House seat in Republican hands in the first congressional race of the year.

The White House had insisted Trump’s visit had nothing to do with politics. And indeed, the speech he delivered at H&K Equipment largely stuck to the script, touting the tax cuts he signed into law just before Christmas, and trying to turn the conversation back to his accomplishments after weeks dominated by distractions, including questions about his mental health and comments about immigration some considered racist.

But hours before he left Washington, Trump made clear the visit had a second purpose.

“We will be going to Pennsylvania today in order to give my total support to RICK SACCONE,” Trump tweeted, adding: “We need more Republicans to continue our already successful agenda!”

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders quickly sought to correct the record, insisting Trump was going to Pennsylvania to talk about tax cuts, not to campaign.

A campaign event would require that taxpayers be reimbursed for some of Trump’s travel expenses.

Saccone, a 59-year-old state representative, faces Conor Lamb, a 33-year-old lawyer and former Marine, in the March 13 special election to replace Republican Tim Murphy, who resigned after acknowledging an extramarital affair.

The election is shaping up as the next test of Democratic enthusiasm and GOP resilience in the Trump era and an early indicator of whether a midterm wave may be coming in November, as Democrats hope. The party that controls the White House traditionally loses seats in Congress in the following midterm election.

While Trump easily won the district in 2016, the Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has opened offices in the district with paid canvassers. Political groups bankrolled by the billionaire Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs, are also airing TV ads on Saccone’s behalf.