Republicans will open a rare two-night midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday, betting that President Donald Trump can turn out voters who otherwise might stay home in November. Trump will headline both nights of the gathering, which party leaders have branded a “Trumpapalooza.” National parties typically reserve large televised conventions for presidential election years, and midterm versions have largely disappeared since Democrats abandoned the practice after a brief experiment in 1982.
The Republican strategy is built around a turnout problem Trump recently described at a rally for Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina. “The problem that we have is they say that Trump does great when he’s on the ballot,” said the president. “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,” Trump said. “Just come and vote. It’s so important.”
Republican strategists hope the Dallas convention and accompanying advertising can recreate the coalition that returned Trump to office in 2024, including voters who often skip non-presidential elections. A Trump-aligned dark-money group, Securing American Greatness, began airing two midterm ads last week that omitted House and Senate candidates and instead featured extensive slow-motion footage of Trump. The message is clear: even if Trump is not on the ballot, Republicans want his voters to behave as if he is.
The convention can be seen live here:
Organizers say the convention will focus on lowering living costs, raising incomes, border security and “protecting American values.” Trump will be joined by Vice President JD Vance, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom Trump endorsed in a Senate primary against the Republican incumbent, and other party figures. But many Republicans facing the closest races will stay home.
An NPR review of the speaker list against Cook Political Report ratings found fewer than half of Republican candidates in competitive House and Senate races are scheduled to appear. Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa, who faces a toss-up reelection fight, told reporters on Capitol Hill, “We’re going to be back in our district, working hard.” Vance dismissed concerns about their absence at a White House briefing last week, saying, “The president and I can go and make [the] argument on national TV. We don’t need a congressman in a tight race to be there in all cases.”
The convention will also have to compete for viewers. Wednesday’s opening night coincides with the NFL season opener, a Super Bowl rematch between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, while another prime-time game is scheduled Thursday. Democrats have no comparable gathering planned and are mounting only limited counterprogramming.
Democratic pollster John Anzalone argued the lack of a competing event reflects the declining importance of conventions themselves. “Most elected officials don’t even want to go to [presidential nominating conventions],” he said. “I mean, the expiration date on conventions has passed a long, long time ago.” He added that the war in Iran, tariffs, high gas prices and affordability worries have created an environment that “is disastrous for Republicans running for office and this Republican convention is not going to change that narrative one iota for the midterm elections.”
Republican officials argue Trump still gives the party something few other politicians can: an ability to reach voters who normally sit out midterms. Ohio Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou said his state received fewer tickets than it would for a presidential convention but still found plenty of demand. “From the very beginning we were told that we could use this as an opportunity to rally the troops and to raise some money for the party and those two things have certainly happened,” he said.
Some conservatives see embracing Trump as the party’s most viable strategy in a difficult midterm environment. “Running to President Trump and defending his record, I think, is an interesting strategy and I think it is so interesting that it might just work,” said Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project. “We’ve tried running away from the president in previous midterms and we almost always lose.”
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