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ST. PAUL 鈥� U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp on Thursday, Aug. 20, told fellow Democrats that they were "hell-bent" on helping former Vice President Joe Biden win the presidency this fall and urged party activists to help turn out voters to

The comments came on the as members of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota delegations convened virtually and just days after President Donald Trump stumped in the state in hopes of flipping it in November.

At the virtual breakfast, Smith told Democratic delegates that she was "hellbent" on fighting to keep her Senate seat and helping Democrats up and down the ballot get elected. Without holding onto her incumbency, she said "there's no path to taking back the United States Senate" for Democrats.

Attempting to unseat her is former U.S. Rep. Jason Lewis, a Republican who was voted into Minnesota's purple 2nd Congressional District in 2016 and unseated two years later by U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, a Democrat.

"Let鈥檚 be clear, my opponent is right in the footsteps of Donald Trump," Smith said Thursday. "He will attack anybody and anything to get attention 鈥� including the U.S. Post Office."

A day prior, Lewis campaign in Eagan, Minn., and blasted the U.S. Postal Service as unreliable after mail for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's gubernatorial campaign allegedly arrived in his PO box. Both campaigns are based in the same St. Paul post office.

He said the one-time mistake was evidence of a postal system that can't handle an increased volume of mail-in ballots.

"This is a system, this is a post office that couldn鈥檛 get Tim Walz and Jason Lewis right, that you are going to want to run the election? Are you kidding me?" he said. "I have grave concerns about this push by our secretary of state and by Democrats nationally to do a de facto all-mail-in vote. That is not what the post office is set up to do."

The comes not only as more Americans are anticipated to vote by mail in November due to the pandemic but also as the Trump Administration has implemented changes to the postal service, which have

U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy 鈥� who has 鈥� earlier this week said he is on some of his proposed changes to USPS like cutting deliverers' overtime hours "to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail." He didn't address concerns over sorting machines that have already been removed throughout the country.

Lewis has launched his campaign for senator against the Democratic Party more broadly, taking on Walz's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, state mandates requiring face masks, Minneapolis city councilors unsuccessful effort to disband the police and, more recently, their support for absentee voting.

Trump and Lewis have opposed universal absentee voting, citing about voter fraud. Minnesota has used Congress' CARES Act pandemic emergency dollars to increase funding for no-excuse absentee voting, but

On Wednesday, Lewis said Minnesota's absentee ballot process has worked "for many many years, many decades," requiring voters to request a ballot and "prove you are who you say you are." That process is, in fact, still in place in Minnesota. Minnesota voters still have to request a ballot to vote by mail.

Ahead of the general election, Trump's campaign and the Republican Party have committed to putting campaign infrastructure and substantial ad-buying efforts on the ground in Minnesota in an attempt to flip the state.

Minnesota has the longest-in-the-nation track record of supporting Democratic candidates for president. But Trump in 2016 came within 1.5% of snapping that trend. And , Trump said the state could be the deciding factor in this year's presidential contest.

"If we win Minnesota, it's over," the president told supporters.

Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat, said at Thursday morning's DNC event that she has turned her work in the state and beyond to getting rural voters "reacquainted" with the Democratic Party. Heitkamp and former U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, of Indiana, emphasized the importance of Democrats connecting with neighbors, friends and family members ahead of the election.

"We know there are people in rural America who are sitting quietly at the table, at the coffee table when everybody is trumping Trump and putting Trump on their signs and on their yards and on their buildings,鈥� Heitkamp said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 let the hardcore Trump supporter stop you from your political activism, from your ability to change minds and to get out those votes.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e all part of this region and we all need to pull together because our part of the world has not done better under Donald Trump," she continued. "Our part of the world has suffered and we are seeing the consequences."

The Democratic National Convention will conclude Thursday night, Aug. 20, with Biden accepting the party's nomination. The Republican National Convention will kick off next week.