President Donald Trump is headlining a two-day midterms convention in Dallas next week, ostensibly to boost turnout in the competitive campaigns that will decide control of Congress in November. But several of the Republicans running in those races are planning to skip it entirely.
The president has billed the unusual gathering as a “historic” rally “like none other,” and he is reportedly scheduled to keynote it twice. But the gathering comes at a tenuous moment for Trump’s party in a year defined by rising costs, an unpopular war in Iran and a presidency broadly disapproved of by the American public.
Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, told MS NOW that he is skipping the convention. “No, I’m going to be in my district because I think it’s more important to be in my district working for my folks,” he said.
Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., is doing the same. “He is not attending,” Barrett’s office told MS NOW. “He feels he would be more useful back in Michigan doing what he does every district work period: meeting with and listening to the people, businesses and community leaders he represents in Congress.”
Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., also confirmed to MS NOW that he will not make an appearance.
The members skipping Dallas have reasons beyond their calendars. Trump’s trade war with Canada has pushed up prices, and his decision to boost imports of foreign ground beef, intended to bring down grocery costs, has drawn backlash across the agricultural Midwest.
Plus, the invitation is not free. House Republicans are expected to give at least $25,000 to the National Republican Congressional Committee to get a ticket. What that buys is the opportunity to rub elbows with some of the GOP’s biggest donors and to please Trump, whose MAGA Inc. super PAC has amassed more than $400 million and has yet to spend almost any of it. Some Republican leaders have grown skeptical that Trump’s cash, even if deployed, will significantly change their party’s odds this close to Election Day.
Vice President JD Vance, who is scheduled to speak ahead of Trump in Dallas, said at a White House press briefing Thursday that the absences do not worry him.
“The president and I can go and make that argument on national TV,” Vance said. “We don’t need a congressman in a tight race to be there in all cases. Sometimes it might be better if that guy’s out there raising money.”
Others see the convention as an opportunity to tout Republicans’ record ahead of November. Reps. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. — three members in competitive races — are among the vulnerable GOP incumbents expecting to attend.
Lawler said Wednesday on MS NOW’s “State of Play with Peter Alexander” that he would attend and introduce two of his constituents whose daughter was allegedly killed earlier this year by a man in the country illegally.
Van Orden told reporters outside the Capitol on Thursday that he is attending because the “mainstream media” has not “told the truth” about legislation Republicans have passed, including a $50 billion fund to revitalize rural healthcare infrastructure and the “No Tax on Tips” policy. He suggested the convention is a chance to tout those wins.
“We need to tell this story. It’s just not getting out,” Van Orden said. “We’ve accomplished monumental things, and that’s why I’m going.”
The price tag has given some members pause regardless of how safe their seats are. Rep. Tim Burchett. R-Tenn., a staunch Trump ally, said Wednesday that he was not sure whether he would attend.
“I don’t know — it’s $25,000 apparently,” Burchett said. “I just got a bill. I’m not sure.”
Less than a week out, several other Republicans are still deciding. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., told MS NOW that he is “trying to work out some scheduling things right now.” A spokesperson for Zach Lahn, the Republican nominee in Iowa’s competitive gubernatorial race, said his team is “figuring out scheduling and have not made a final determination.”
Whoever ends up onstage, the spectacle effectively hands Democrats an opportunity to connect Republican candidates and officeholders to Trump and his policies — that is, if anyone is paying attention. The convention will be competing for viewers with the opening two nights of the NFL season.
Mychael Schnell contributed reporting.
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