MINNEAPOLIS – Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville) was scheduled to join his home state’s delegates for lunch today in Minneapolis, shortly after he arrived in town for the Republican National Convention.

Delegates were to join McConnell at the private event on Nicollet Island, which is set in the middle of the Mississippi River just north of the convention’s host city. State Republican Party officials said McConnell would address the delegates at the lunch.

McConnell missed the first day of the RNC, staying in Kentucky to meet with refugees from Hurricane Gustav and to attend a briefing on the weather emergency. His scheduled remarks on the opening night of the convention were cancelled as part of changes the RNC made to the schedule in response to Gustav.

After the lunch, Kentucky delegates were invited to attend an afternoon reception before heading to the arena where the convention would be held.