Republican midterm convention 2026: What to know about Trump’s Dallas event

Unorthodox event seeks to mobilise midterm Republican voters, even as Trump approval rating tanks.

The video board inside the American Airlines Center displays the logo for this week's Republican congressional midterm convention in Dallas, Texas [File: Brian Snyder/Reuters]

The United States Republican Party – and its talisman President Donald Trump – is descending on Dallas, Texas, to host a rare convention before the midterm elections in November.

Usually reserved for presidential election cycles, Trump’s call to hold the high-cost event before the November 3 midterm vote has underscored both the president’s unorthodox campaign style and the urgency of the political moment for his Republican Party.

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Trump’s approval rating has tanked in the lead-up to the midterm vote, with polls pointing to a panoply of factors, most notably the US-Israel war on Iran and its knock-on economic effects for US consumers.

The lack of enthusiasm threatens what are already considered long-shot odds in the Republicans’ effort to hold on to control of the House of Representatives. Shifting public opinion has also put control of the Senate increasingly in play, although Democrats still face an uphill battle to pull off an upset.

A loss of control in either chamber would serve as a major check on Trump’s authority in the final two years of his second term.

But not all Republicans have bought into Trump and the party’s claims that the convention will spur voter turnout.

Several, particularly those in the tightest races, have kept the event at arm’s length amid concerns that associating with the president could only further mobilise his detractors.

Here’s what to know:

When and where is the Republican midterm convention?

The convention will be hosted at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday, September 9 and Thursday, September 10.

The event is expected to run from 3pm to 9pm Central Time (20:00 to 02:00 GMT) on both days.

Trump is scheduled to speak on both nights, including a Wednesday address and the convention’s closing keynote on Thursday from 8pm to 9pm Central Time (01:00 to 02:00 GMT on Friday).

US Vice President JD Vance will close out night one with a speech.

A person takes pictures of signage during preparation for the Republican National Committee (RNC) Midterm Convention at the American Airlines Center on September 7, 2026 in Dallas, Texas [Brandon Bell/Getty Images via AFP]

Is this a typical political convention?

The Republican National Committee (RNC), the party’s official organising body, has billed the Dallas midterm convention as a “first in American political history”.

Both Democratic and Republican national conventions have historically capped the primary season before a presidential election. The emphasis has historically been on the presidential nomination process during the largely ceremonial events.

During those conventions, so-called “delegates” from every state pledge their votes for a candidate based on the primary election outcome from their home state.

A candidate who secures the required majority of delegates formally becomes the party’s presidential nominee at the convention.

Parties also typically hold several smaller meetings surrounding the event to establish and release the party’s official platform.

Why are Republicans holding a midterm convention in 2026?

To start with, there will be no nominating process – presidential or otherwise – during the event, as there is no presidential election in 2026.

Instead, the convention has taken the shape of a supercharged campaign rally and fundraiser.

It has been pitched as an opportunity to introduce candidates in punishing races to potential donors and to give a clear, if Trump-dominated, party message as the races enter their final stretch.

The RNC has promised “a primetime showcase for President Trump’s success, candidates, and causes that have propelled the 2026 midterms to unprecedented focus”.

What’s on the schedule?

There will be quite a lot. The official programme lists “53 items and speakers” on night one, followed by 56 more on night two.

The first night will focus on issues including tax cuts, healthcare affordability, immigration, border policy, trade and domestic manufacturing.

The second night will focus more on affordability and families, including policies related to taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security.

The subject areas hew closely to Trump’s wider political messaging.

The official programme gives relatively little attention to several other subjects. The US-Israel war with Iran and Trump’s aggressive tariff policy receive scant mention.

Who else is speaking?

Trump and Vance are the convention’s marquee speakers, but an array of prominent Republicans and candidates are expected to feature across the two-day programme.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is likely to get a healthy amount of stage time. Paxton is running for Senate against Democrat James Talarico, whose early lead in polling has raised alarm bells for Republicans. A Democrat has not won statewide office in Texas since 1994.

“We’re going to have a lot of speakers, and the ones we want to focus on will be obviously Ken Paxton,” Trump told reporters last week. “We gotta get him elected.”

The race is particularly personal for Trump, who endorsed MAGA-aligned Paxton over Republican Senator John Cornyn, a four-term incumbent seen by many as the surest challenger for Talarico.

Will Trump’s convention help Republicans in the midterms?

It remains to be seen whether the convention will help to turn out voters in a meaningful way.

Trump has proven a canny campaigner in the past, leveraging his eye for television spectacle to build support and turn out low-propensity voters. But several factors could limit the impact.

Trump’s Thursday night speech conflicts with the opening games of the National Football League (NFL) season. The event also runs up against several memorial events for the September 11, 2001 attacks throughout the week.

Some Republican officials have also reportedly criticised the hasty announcement of the event, which Trump called for in late June, raising questions over whether organisers will indeed be able to achieve the spectacle envisioned.

For his part, Trump enters the convention with his approval rating continuing to tank, hovering at a 38 percent average in major polls. Several of the most recent polls, including a Reuters-Ipsos poll and a Financial Times-Focaldata poll conducted in late August, reflected only a 33 percent approval.

Trump entered office in January 2025 sitting at about 52 percent approval.

Why are some Republicans skipping?

To be sure, several Republicans in key races have said they will attend the convention.

They include former Congressman Mike Rogers, who is running against Democrat Abdul El-Sayed for an open Senate seat in Michigan; Ohio Senator Jon Husted, who is facing an unnerving challenge from former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown; and Georgia Congressman Mike Collins, who is seeking to unseat Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff.

Others have been wary.

Trump’s policies in his second term have cast a long shadow, leaving many candidates calculating whether attendance could backfire and instead energise voters opposed to Trump.

Democratic primary turnout in several key states – including Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas and Georgia – has soared this year, while Republican turnout has remained steady but unextraordinary, as reported by The Associated Press news agency. That has been a worrying sign for Republicans.

Maine Senator Susan Collins, a Republican incumbent seen as vulnerable in her race against Democrat Troy Jackson, has been among those who have said they will not attend.

Several candidates in key House races have pointed to prior commitments.

Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks told The Bulwark she preferred to spend her time in her home district in Iowa, where she faces a challenge from Democrat Christina Bohannan.

“Because I have a district that I have to be in and take care of, so I’ll be in my district,” she explained about her decision.

Miller-Meeks eked out a victory over Bohannan in 2024, winning by a margin of just 0.1 percent.

Are Democrats countering?

Several left-leaning groups are organising protests.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has announced that four Democratic lawmakers will travel to Dallas for counterprogramming during the Republican convention.

However, the cash-strapped Democratic National Committee (DNC) has avoided holding its own midterm convention.

The committee went into debt in the wake of the 2024 presidential election, even putting up its Washington, DC-based headquarters as collateral for a $15m loan, the NOTUS news site reported in July.

The RNC has not yet released a final price tag for its convention.

尽管特朗普的支持率暴跌，但这场非同寻常的活动旨在动员共和党中期选举选民。

美国航空中心内的大屏幕上显示着本周在德克萨斯州达拉斯举行的共和党国会中期选举大会的标志。[图片：布莱恩·斯奈德/路透社]

美国共和党及其精神领袖唐纳德·特朗普总统将齐聚德克萨斯州达拉斯市，在11月中期选举前举行一次罕见的党代会。

特朗普通常在总统选举周期才会举办这种高成本的活动，而他却在 11 月 3 日中期选举投票前决定举办，这既凸显了总统非传统的竞选风格，也凸显了共和党当前政治形势的紧迫性。

列表 1/3 “一场前所未有的集会”：特朗普公布 2026 年共和党中期选举大会计划

2026年值得关注的三场重大选举（列表2/3）

民主党候选人卡马拉·哈里斯在特朗普败选后暗示可能竞选2028年总统，这是她为竞选2028年总统做准备的第三条信息。

在中期选举投票前夕，特朗普的支持率大幅下滑，民调显示，造成这一结果的原因有很多，其中最值得注意的是美以对伊朗的战争及其对美国消费者造成的连锁经济影响。

民众热情的缺失，令共和党保住众议院控制权的希望更加渺茫。民意的转变也使得参议院的控制权争夺愈发激烈，尽管民主党想要逆转局势仍面临重重困难。

在特朗普第二个任期的最后两年里，失去对参众两院的控制权将对其权力构成重大制约。

但并非所有共和党人都相信特朗普和该党关于大会将刺激选民投票率的说法。

一些候选人，尤其是那些选情最胶着的候选人，由于担心与总统接触只会进一步煽动他的反对者，因此一直与此次活动保持距离。

以下是您需要了解的内容：

共和党中期选举大会何时何地举行？

大会将于9月9日星期三和9月10日星期四在德克萨斯州达拉斯的美国航空中心举行。

活动预计将于两天内从美国中部时间下午 3 点至晚上 9 点（格林尼治标准时间 20:00 至 02:00）举行。

特朗普计划在两晚都发表讲话，包括周三的讲话和周四晚上8点至9点（美国中部时间，即周五格林尼治标准时间01:00至02:00）的闭幕主题演讲。

美国副总统JD·万斯将在第一晚的活动中发表压轴演讲。

2026年9月7日，在德克萨斯州达拉斯市的美国航空中心，一名男子正在拍摄共和党全国委员会（RNC）中期选举大会筹备期间的标牌照片。[Brandon Bell/Getty Images via AFP]

这是典型的政治集会吗？

共和党全国委员会（RNC）是该党的官方组织机构，它将达拉斯中期选举大会称为“美国政治史上的第一次”。

历史上，民主党和共和党的全国代表大会都是总统大选前初选阶段的收官之作。这些大会主要以仪式性活动为主，其重点历来在于总统候选人的提名过程。

在这些大会上，来自各州的所谓“代表”会根据本州初选结果，承诺投票给某位候选人。

在党代会上，获得足够多数代表支持的候选人将正式成为该党的总统候选人。

政党通常还会围绕该活动举行几次小型会议，以制定和发布该党的正式纲领。

为什么共和党要在2026年举行中期选举大会？

首先，由于 2026 年没有总统选举，因此本次活动期间不会有任何提名程序——无论是总统候选人还是其他候选人。

相反，大会已经演变成一场声势浩大的竞选集会和筹款活动。

有人认为，这是一个让候选人在竞争激烈的竞选中接触潜在捐助者的机会，也是在竞选进入最后阶段之际，向党内传递一个清晰的（尽管以特朗普为主导的）信息的机会。

共和党全国委员会承诺“在黄金时段展示特朗普总统的成就、候选人和各项事业，这些成就和事业使 2026 年中期选举获得了前所未有的关注”。

日程安排是什么？

活动会相当多。官方日程显示，第一晚有“53项活动和演讲”，第二晚还有56项。

第一晚的讨论将聚焦减税、医疗保健负担能力、移民、边境政策、贸易和国内制造业等议题。

第二晚将更多地关注住房负担能力和家庭问题，包括与小费、加班费和社会保障相关的税收政策。

这些主题领域与特朗普更广泛的政治信息密切相关。

官方议程对其他几个议题着墨不多。美以之间的伊朗战争以及特朗普咄咄逼人的关税政策几乎没有提及。

还有谁在发言？

特朗普和万斯是大会的重头戏，但预计在为期两天的会议议程中，众多共和党知名人士和候选人也将亮相。

德克萨斯州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿很可能获得相当多的演讲时间。帕克斯顿正在竞选参议员，他的对手是民主党人詹姆斯·塔拉里科，后者在民调中早期领先，这让共和党人敲响了警钟。自1994年以来，民主党人就再也没有在德克萨斯州赢得过全州范围的选举。

“我们会邀请很多演讲嘉宾，但我们最想重点介绍的显然是肯·帕克斯顿，”特朗普上周告诉记者。“我们必须让他当选。”

这场竞选对特朗普来说意义非凡，他支持与“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）运动结盟的帕克斯顿，而不是共和党参议员约翰·科宁。科宁是四届现任参议员，被许多人视为塔拉里科最有力的挑战者。

特朗普的党代会能否帮助共和党在中期选举中获胜？

该大会能否对提高选民投票率起到实质性作用，还有待观察。

特朗普过去曾证明自己是一位精明的竞选者，他善于利用电视宣传来建立支持率并动员那些投票意愿不高的选民。但有几个因素可能会限制其影响力。

特朗普周四晚的演讲与美国国家橄榄球联盟（NFL）赛季揭幕战冲突。此外，本周还将举行多场纪念2001年9月11日恐怖袭击事件的活动。

据报道，一些共和党官员也批评了特朗普在6月下旬呼吁举办此次活动的仓促宣布，这引发了人们对组织者是否真的能够实现预期盛况的质疑。

特朗普的支持率持续下滑，在主要民调中平均徘徊在38%左右，而包括路透社-益普索民调和《金融时报》-Focaldata在8月下旬进行的民调在内的几项最新民调显示，他的支持率仅为33%。

特朗普于 2025 年 1 月就职，当时他的支持率约为 52%。

为什么有些共和党人缺席？

可以肯定的是，几位在关键选区角逐的共和党候选人已经表示他们将出席大会。

其中包括前国会议员迈克·罗杰斯，他正在与民主党人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德竞选密歇根州的空缺参议院席位；俄亥俄州参议员乔恩·赫斯特德，他正面临着来自前民主党参议员谢罗德·布朗的令人不安的挑战；以及佐治亚州国会议员迈克·柯林斯，他正寻求击败民主党参议员乔恩·奥索夫。

其他人则持谨慎态度。

特朗普第二任期的政策产生了深远的影响，许多候选人都在权衡出席率是否会适得其反，反而激发反对特朗普的选民的热情。

据美联社报道，今年包括密歇根州、威斯康星州、德克萨斯州和佐治亚州在内的几个关键州的民主党初选投票率飙升，而共和党初选投票率则保持稳定，但并无异常。这对共和党人来说是一个令人担忧的迹象。

缅因州共和党现任参议员苏珊·柯林斯在与民主党候选人特洛伊·杰克逊的竞选中被认为胜算不大，她已表示不会出席。

在几场关键的众议院选举中，多位候选人都提到了之前的承诺。

众议员玛丽安内特·米勒-米克斯告诉《堡垒报》，她更喜欢把时间花在她在爱荷华州的家乡选区，在那里她将面临民主党人克里斯蒂娜·博汉南的挑战。

“因为我必须待在我的选区，照顾好我的选区，所以我将留在我的选区，”她解释了自己的决定。

2024 年，米勒-米克斯险胜博汉南，仅以 0.1% 的微弱优势获胜。

民主党人会采取反制措施吗？

多个左倾团体正在组织抗议活动。

众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯宣布，四名民主党议员将前往达拉斯，在共和党大会期间进行反制活动。

然而，资金短缺的民主党全国委员会（DNC）一直避免召开自己的中期选举代表大会。

据 NOTUS 新闻网站 7 月份报道，在 2024 年总统大选之后，该委员会负债累累，甚至将其位于华盛顿特区的总部作为抵押，获得了 1500 万美元的贷款。

共和党全国委员会尚未公布其大会的最终预算。