Trump takes center stage at rare GOP midterm convention

Republicans open a rare midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday with President Donald Trump as the main attraction, betting that his presence can energize voters the party needs to protect narrow congressional majorities in November.

Trump is scheduled to headline both nights of the two-day event, which Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters has repeatedly billed as a “Trumpapalooza,” NPR reported. The gathering is unusual: Major televised party conventions are normally reserved for presidential election years, and midterm conventions have largely disappeared from national politics.

The Republican strategy puts Trump at the center of the campaign even as his approval rating is underwater. The Guardian reported that his approval is hovering around 38%, while the party faces pressure over rising costs, gas prices, inflation and an increasingly unpopular war.

Trump has framed the midterms as a turnout test for his supporters. At a recent rally for South Carolina Republican Sen. Darline Graham, he told voters that Republicans suffer when he is not personally on the ballot.

“The problem that we have is they say that Trump does great when he’s on the ballot,” Trump said, speaking in the third person. “But when he’s not on the ballot, his people don’t come and they don’t vote. So, what I really want you to do is pretend please, that I am on the ballot. Just come and vote. It’s so important.”

Republican organizers say the convention will focus on lowering the cost of living, raising incomes, securing the border and protecting American values. Gruters said the program will show how Republicans are “lowering costs, securing our border, making our communities safer, and putting American workers and families first,” The Guardian reported.

Vice President JD Vance is also scheduled to speak, along with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Republican leaders. NPR reported that Trump endorsed Paxton for a Senate seat over the incumbent Republican and that Paxton now faces a campaign cash deficit. The Guardian reported that Paxton is polling neck-and-neck with Democrat James Talarico in Texas, a state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1988.

But some vulnerable Republicans are keeping their distance. NPR, citing its analysis of Cook Political Report race ratings, reported that fewer than half of Republican candidates in competitive House and Senate races are listed as convention speakers. Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa, who is in a toss-up reelection race, told reporters, “We’re going to be back in our district, working hard.” The Guardian also named Michigan Rep. Tom Barrett among Republicans facing close races who will not attend and cited an Axios report that only about 100 lawmakers and candidates are expected.

Vance said the White House does not need every vulnerable candidate in Dallas. “The president and I can go and make [the] argument on national TV,” he said at a White House briefing last week. “We don’t need a congressman in a tight race to be there in all cases.”

Democrats are not holding their own convention, though House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said a group of Democrats would be in Dallas to “counter the falsehoods and extremism” at the event, The Guardian reported.

Democratic pollster John Anzalone dismissed the convention’s likely impact. “Most elected officials don’t even want to go to [presidential nominating conventions],” he told NPR. “I mean, the expiration date on conventions has passed a long, long time ago.” He said the war in Iran, unpopular tariffs, high gas prices and affordability concerns have made the environment “disastrous for Republicans running for office.”

Some Republicans argue leaning into Trump is the party’s best option. Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou said his state party used the convention to “rally the troops” and raise money. “Nobody turns out low propensity voters in Ohio like the president,” he said.

Terry Schilling, president of the Republican group American Principles Project, told NPR that defending Trump’s record could work. “We’ve tried running away from the president in previous midterms and we almost always lose,” he said.