DUBUQUE, Iowa — President Donald Trump campaigned in Iowa and Kansas on Sunday, visiting territory he dominated two years ago to help Republicans preserve fragile congressional majorities in the final hours of a contentious midterm campaign.
Addressing supporters for two hours in Dubuque, Iowa, before traveling to Salina, Kansas, Trump asserted that the party remains positioned for broad success when voters cast their ballots on Tuesday. “We're going to elect ‘America first’ Republicans up and down the line,” Trump declared to the crowd, ABC News reported.
Defending red ground
The travel itinerary highlighted the defensive posture of the GOP, which holds a 53-47 majority in the U.S. Senate alongside a narrow margin in the House of Representatives. Thirty-five Senate seats and all 435 House seats are up for election on Tuesday, Al Jazeera reported. If Democrats take either chamber, they could stall Trump's agenda and initiate congressional inquiries into the administration.
In Iowa, Republicans are attempting to protect an open Senate seat and the governorship while fending off a Democratic challenge in the 2nd Congressional District, where Republican Joe Mitchell faces Democrat Lindsay James. In Kansas, incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Marshall is locked in a competitive contest against Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton, a prominent pastor in a state that last chose a Democratic senator in 1932, according to Al Jazeera.
Voter participation is already approaching record heights. ABC News reported that more than 54 million early votes have been submitted nationwide, while data from the University of Florida’s Election Lab put early ballots at over 52 million, up from roughly 46 million cast before Election Day during the 2022 midterms.
Economic discontent and political headwinds
Trump's return to the trail followed a pause Saturday evening at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, where he addressed attendees at a private gathering and insisted that “the country has never done better,” ABC News reported. Yet Republican strategists and candidates have confronted persistent public frustration regarding rising prices and the economic effects linked to tariffs and the war in Iran.
A national NBC News survey conducted Oct. 28 to Oct. 30 revealed that 52 percent of registered voters favor a Democratic-led Congress compared to 45 percent who prefer Republican control. Trump’s disapproval rating hit 60 percent in the poll, with roughly three out of four respondents expressing dissatisfaction with the national economy.
Midwestern lawmakers have also voiced alarm over trade policies. Outgoing Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, told CNN that “tariffs are not popular here in the Midwest” and cautioned that a difficult showing on Tuesday would prompt an internal debate over the party’s future direction, according to ABC News. Conversely, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who directs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told NBC that Trump’s agenda is firmly on the ballot and expressed confidence the GOP will keep the Senate.
Midwestern Senate races in the balance
While national polls suggest broad advantages for Democrats, the party has dealt with sudden internal turbulence in Michigan, a must-win state in their Senate calculations. Representative Haley Stevens, who was defeated by Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic primary, endorsed Republican candidate Mike Rogers on Sunday, ABC News reported.
Stevens said in a video statement that she was told to stay away from the El-Sayed campaign, leading her to cross party lines. In response, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand issued statements affirming that Democrats remain united behind El-Sayed. Sen. Bernie Sanders dismissed concerns about party fractures on CBS, saying voters will back El-Sayed on Tuesday.
With polls opening across the country on Tuesday morning, both parties are watching whether high voter turnout in Midwestern battlegrounds will deliver unified control of government back to Trump or divide power in Washington for the remainder of his term.
