Republican midterm convention wraps up in Dallas, Texas: Key takeaways

Protesters gather on final night as US Republicans seek to rally their base ahead of consequential legislative elections.

US President Donald Trump gestures onstage at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, on September 10, 2026 [Evan Vucci/Reuters]

Dallas, Texas – Night two of the first-of-its-kind Republican midterm convention has wrapped up, with the party officially hitching its wagon to US President Donald Trump as it faces uphill legislative elections in November.

On the first night , speaker after speaker portrayed an existential fight against an increasingly “radical” Democratic Party. In his keynote address, Trump urged voters on Wednesday to “pretend” he is on the ballot, even as entrenched concerns over affordability, fuelled by the US-Israel war on Iran, have seen the president’s approval ratings dive.

list 1 of 4 Iran war looms over Trump at Republican midterm convention in Dallas

list 2 of 4 Trump says the US-Iran war will end right after midterms

list 3 of 4 Trump’s Iran war now has a midterm election problem

list 4 of 4 US Supreme Court blocks Trump-backed congressional map in Missouri

Going a step further, Trump also pledged to give US citizens a “$5,000 dividend” if Republicans hold onto both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the elections, a promise that met with consternation from both his supporters and critics.

Night two saw more efforts to rally the Republican base. Here were the key takeaways.

Protesters gather and Democrats rally

The Democratic National Committee opted not to hold its own national convention, an event typically held only during presidential election cycles.

Instead, the liberal response was largely contained to a small protest held near the American Airlines Center, where the Republican convention was taking place, with Democrats holding a rally at Dallas City Hall in the evening.

“It’s to bring national attention to this and hopefully put some pressure on politicians that aren’t so firmly rooted in MAGA,” said Jon Pattison, 66, from Frisco, Texas, a retiree and activist with the Indivisible group, which organised the protest near the American Airlines Center.

The convention “is going to have the opposite effect from what Trump wants. Like rats from a sinking ship”, he said.

“We’re gonna flip Texas, and Trump is worried about it,” he added.

Kathryn Suarez, 51, a project manager from Dallas, said Republicans were “threatened by James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa”, referring to the Democratic Senate candidate Talarico, who has been pulling away from Republican candidate Ken Paxton, and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hinojosa.

“It’s no secret that Texas is generally a red state, so [the convention] may work in [Trump’s] favour,” she said. “But that’s why we’re here; to try to stand up and make sure that people know that that’s not the only option.”

But despite Trump’s overall low approval rating, Texas-based Democratic strategist Rania Batrice warned that the Democratic leadership has still failed to articulate a clear message to meet the moment in the final stretch of the election.

“There are individuals running for office who are capturing that moment, who are showing up in that moment,” she told Al Jazeera. “I think James Talarico is one of them. Abdul El-Sayed is obviously one of them.”

“They’re doing what our leadership is not doing,” Batrice said.

A Trump heir apparent?

Vice President JD Vance delivered Thursday’s keynote speech after being bumped from Wednesday night by Trump.

Focusing largely on traditional “family values” issues and praising Trump’s immigration policies, Vance appealed for Republican unity, even amid disagreements.

He pointed to slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s opposition to foreign wars. Vance has been widely seen as one of the most critical voices of the US-Israel war on Iran in the Trump administration.

“I’m not asking anybody to agree with me on every single issue,” he said. “I’m not asking anybody to agree on every single policy of the administration.”

“What I am asking you to do is to recognise the contrast with the radicals and recognise the achievements of the last 18 months. We have done a lot, my friends, and we can do a lot more if we fight together,” he said.

Vance has long led polls of potential Trump successors, and the high-profile speech is likely to further solidify his role as the heir apparent.

While many who spoke to Al Jazeera saw Vance as Trump’s most likely successor in 2028, several also saw Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the man for the job.

“I like Rubio,” said Brendan House, a 42-year-old resident of Shreveport, Louisiana.

“He’s a jack of all trades,” he said, referring to Rubio’s multiple roles beyond top diplomat, including head of the largely defunct USAID agency and acting archivist at the National Archives.

“I feel like Trump has been grooming him for the job,” he said.

Some voters were eyeing champions from farther afield.

Ronnda Law, a 55-year-old from Lubbock, Texas, hoped conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson would step into the race.

“He’s a Christian. He’s anti-sending all of our money and our men to die for Israel, which is something that’s happened forever,” she said.

Texas lawmakers say banning ‘Sharia law’ a Republican priority

Two Texas officials used their speeches on Thursday to decry “ Sharia law “, highlighting the issue as a Republican priority.

“Sharia law has no place in America,” Senator Ted Cruz said. “Sharia law is fundamentally inconsistent with the Constitution, and we need to stand together and stop it now.”

His statement comes as Republicans in Congress have increasingly seized on the concept, launching a so-called “Sharia-free America caucus”.

Critics have said lawmakers have misrepresented the Islamic concept of Sharia, which roughly translates to “the trodden path to water”. Lawmakers have made no meaningful effort to codify interpretations of Islamic principles into US law. Advocates have accused lawmakers of fabricating an issue to stigmatise Islam .

In Texas, the Republican-controlled government has taken several actions decried by advocates as Islamophobic, including a recent effort to ban prayer ablution areas at airports.

Governor Greg Abbott, who also spoke on Thursday, has also sought to label the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Texas as a foreign “terrorist” organisation.

“We are not waiting on Washington, DC,” he said during his speech. “We will fully ban Sharia law in Texas.”

Michigan’s El-Sayed gets brunt of attacks

While Texas Democratic Senate candidate Talarico received outsized attention on Wednesday, Thursday saw a heavier focus on Michigan progressive Abdul El-Sayed .

Republican candidate Mike Rogers criticised El-Sayed over campaign appearances he made with left-wing streaming commentator Hasan Piker.

“Abdul El-Sayed has chosen Hasan as his running mate,” Rogers said. “Together, they attack America. They excuse extremism. They treat our country like it’s the villain.”

So far, El-Sayed has refused to repudiate comments from Piker, who has accused critics of intentionally taking statements out of context.

On Wednesday, Republican Congressman Tom Emmer, in a falsehood-laden diatribe, suggested that the US-born El Sayed should leave the country.

“If you don’t love America, get the hell out,” Emmer said.

El-Sayed, for his part, released a new attack advertisement against Rogers on Thursday.

Trump further solidifies outsized role in midterms

If one message was clear during the two-day convention, it was that Trump will remain a defining force in the final stretch of the midterm election.

On Wednesday, he pledged to rally for every tight Senate and House race in the coming weeks, a potentially disconcerting notion for candidates wary of associating with the increasingly unpopular president.

On Thursday, Trump reiterated that Republicans needed to vote in the midterm elections as if he were on the ballot. He again promised every American adult a $5,000 payment if Republicans keep control of Congress, without providing details.

He acknowledged relying on the military “a little more than I thought”, but insisted that Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon, and again referred to the Strait of Hormuz as the “Trump strait”.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, congressional candidate Gerald Molloy, who is running to unseat progressive Becca Balint in deep-blue Vermont, said he understood why some candidates in liberal-leaning states might be wary of Trump’s embrace.

“I tell Vermonters, it’s not about the White House. It’s about delivering results from DC,” he said.

Still, he said he believed that the wider framing of the race, one of “common sense” Republicans against increasingly “radical” Democrats, would prove potent with voters.

“What I do think was kind of the theme of the whole [convention] was, you’ve got the GOP and here’s your other choice: socialism, DSA,” he said, referring to the Democratic Socialists of America, who are set to grow their presence in Congress this election cycle.

“I think we kind of drove home why the GOP is the right choice, and the choice right now,” he said.

在即将到来的重要立法选举前夕，抗议者聚集在最后一晚，试图巩固共和党的基本盘。

2026年9月10日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在德克萨斯州达拉斯举行的共和党中期选举大会上发表讲话。[Evan Vucci/路透社]

德克萨斯州达拉斯——共和党首次举办的中期选举大会第二晚落下帷幕，该党正式将自身与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普捆绑在一起，以应对11月即将到来的艰难立法选举。

首晚，一位又一位演讲者将这场与日益“激进”的民主党之间的生死之战描绘得淋漓尽致。特朗普在周三的主题演讲中敦促选民“假装”他的名字出现在选票上，尽管由于美以伊朗战争引发的民众对生活成本的担忧，总统的支持率已经大幅下滑。

列表1/4：伊朗战争阴影笼罩着特朗普在达拉斯举行的共和党中期选举大会。

特朗普称美伊战争将在中期选举后立即结束（共4条，此为第2条）

特朗普的伊朗战争如今面临中期选举问题（共4项，此为第3项）

（共4条）美国最高法院阻止特朗普支持的密苏里州国会选区划分方案

特朗普更进一步承诺，如果共和党在选举中保住众议院和参议院的控制权，他将向美国公民发放“5000美元的红利”。这一承诺引起了他的支持者和批评者的不满。

第二晚，共和党加大了争取基本盘支持的努力。以下是几个关键要点。

抗议者聚集，民主党人举行集会

民主党全国委员会选择不召开自己的全国代表大会，该活动通常只在总统选举周期中举行。

相反，自由派的反应主要局限于在共和党大会举办地美国航空中心附近举行的一场小型抗议活动，而民主党人则在当晚于达拉斯市政厅举行了集会。

“这是为了让全国关注此事，并希望给那些对‘让美国再次伟大’运动不够坚定的政客施加一些压力，”来自德克萨斯州弗里斯科的 66 岁退休人士、Indivisible 组织的积极分子乔恩·帕蒂森说道。该组织在美国航空中心附近组织了抗议活动。

他说，这次大会“将会产生与特朗普预期截然相反的效果，就像老鼠从沉船上逃出来一样”。

“我们将拿下德克萨斯州，特朗普对此感到担忧，”他补充道。

来自达拉斯的 51 岁项目经理凯瑟琳·苏亚雷斯表示，共和党人“受到了詹姆斯·塔拉里科和吉娜·希诺霍萨的威胁”，她指的是民主党参议员候选人塔拉里科（他一直在拉开与共和党候选人肯·帕克斯顿的距离）和民主党州长候选人希诺霍萨。

“德克萨斯州通常是共和党占优势的州，这已不是什么秘密，所以（这次大会）可能对（特朗普）有利，”她说。“但这就是我们来这里的原因；我们要站出来，让人们知道这不是唯一的选择。”

尽管特朗普的总体支持率很低，但德克萨斯州的民主党策略师拉尼亚·巴特里斯警告说，民主党领导层仍然未能阐明一个明确的信息来应对选举的最后阶段。

她告诉半岛电视台：“有些竞选公职的人正在把握这个时机，积极参与其中。我认为詹姆斯·塔拉里科就是其中之一。阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德显然也是其中之一。”

“他们正在做我们的领导层没有做的事情，”巴特里斯说。

特朗普的接班人？

副总统 JD Vance 代替特朗普在周三晚发表了主题演讲，于周四发表了演讲。

万斯主要关注传统的“家庭价值观”问题，并赞扬特朗普的移民政策，呼吁共和党人团结一致，即使存在分歧。

他指出，遇害的保守派活动家查理·柯克反对对外战争。在特朗普政府时期，万斯被广泛认为是美以对伊朗战争持最严厉批评态度的人物之一。

他说：“我并不要求任何人在所有问题上都同意我的观点。我也不要求任何人同意政府的每一项政策。”

“我请求你们认识到我们与激进分子的区别，并认识到过去18个月取得的成就。朋友们，我们已经做了很多，如果我们团结一致，我们还能做得更多。”他说。

范斯长期以来在特朗普潜在继任者的民意调查中一直领先，而这次备受瞩目的演讲可能会进一步巩固他作为当然接班人的地位。

虽然许多接​​受半岛电视台采访的人认为万斯是特朗普在 2028 年最有可能的继任者，但也有一些人认为国务卿马可·卢比奥是担任这一职务的最佳人选。

“我喜欢鲁比奥，”来自路易斯安那州什里夫波特的42岁居民布伦丹·豪斯说道。

“他是个多面手，”他说道，指的是鲁比奥除了担任高级外交官之外还身兼多职，包括担任已基本解散的美国国际开发署署长和国家档案馆代理档案管理员。

“我觉得特朗普一直在培养他担任这个职位，”他说。

一些选民将目光投向了来自更远地区的冠军候选人。

来自德克萨斯州拉伯克的 55 岁居民 Ronnda Law 希望保守派播客主持人塔克·卡尔森能够加入竞选。

“他是一名基督徒。他反对把我们所有的钱和人力都派去为以色列而死，而这种事却由来已久，”她说。

德克萨斯州议员称，禁止“伊斯兰教法”是共和党的首要任务。

周四，两名德克萨斯州官员在演讲中谴责“伊斯兰教法”，强调该问题是共和党的优先事项。

“伊斯兰教法在美国没有立足之地，”参议员特德·克鲁兹说。“伊斯兰教法从根本上与宪法相悖，我们必须团结起来，立即阻止它。”

他的声明发表之际，国会中的共和党人越来越重视这一概念，并成立了所谓的“无伊斯兰教法美国党团”。

批评人士指出，立法者曲解了伊斯兰教法（Sharia）的概念，该概念大致可译为“通往水源的路径”。立法者并未做出任何实质性努力，将伊斯兰教义的解释编入美国法律。支持者则指责立法者捏造问题，意图污名化伊斯兰教。

在德克萨斯州，共和党控制的政府采取了一些被倡导者谴责为仇视伊斯兰教的行动，包括最近试图禁止在机场设立祈祷净身区。

周四也发表讲话的州长格雷格·阿博特还试图将德克萨斯州的美国伊斯兰关系委员会（CAIR）贴上外国“恐怖”组织的标签。

他在演讲中说：“我们不会等待华盛顿特区的指示。我们将在德克萨斯州全面禁止伊斯兰教法。”

密歇根州的埃尔-赛义德遭受袭击

周三，德克萨斯州民主党参议员候选人塔拉里科获得了过多的关注，而周四，密歇根州进步派候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德则受到了更多关注。

共和党候选人迈克·罗杰斯批评埃尔-赛义德与左翼流媒体评论员哈桑·皮克一起出现在竞选活动中。

罗杰斯说：“阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德选择哈桑作为他的竞选搭档。他们联手攻击美国，为极端主义开脱，把我们的国家当成罪魁祸首。”

到目前为止，埃尔-赛义德一直拒绝反驳皮克尔的言论，而皮克尔则指责批评者故意断章取义。

周三，共和党众议员汤姆·埃默发表了一篇充斥着谎言的长篇大论，暗示在美国出生的埃尔·赛义德应该离开美国。

“如果你不爱美国，那就滚出去，”埃默尔说。

埃尔-赛义德则在周四发布了一则新的攻击罗杰斯的广告。

特朗普在中期选举中进一步巩固了其举足轻重的地位

如果说为期两天的党代会传递出一个明确的信息，那就是特朗普仍将是中期选举最后阶段的决定性力量。

周三，他承诺将在未来几周内为每一场竞争激烈的参议院和众议院选举造势，这对于那些不愿与这位越来越不受欢迎的总统扯上关系的候选人来说，可能会让他们感到不安。

周四，特朗普重申，共和党人需要在中期选举中像对待候选人一样投票。他再次承诺，如果共和党继续掌控国会，将向每位美国成年人支付5000美元，但未提供具体细节。

他承认自己对军事力量的依赖“比我想象的要多一些”，但他坚称伊朗永远不会获得核武器，并再次将霍尔木兹海峡称为“特朗普海峡”。

在接受半岛电视台采访时，正在深蓝佛蒙特州竞选国会议员、挑战进步派人士贝卡·巴林特的杰拉尔德·莫洛伊表示，他理解为什么一些倾向自由派的州的候选人可能会对特朗普的拥抱感到担忧。

他说：“我告诉佛蒙特州的民众，这与白宫无关，而是与华盛顿特区能否带来实际成果有关。”

不过，他表示，他相信将这场竞选更广泛地定义为“务实的”共和党人对抗日益“激进的”民主党人，会对选民产生强大的影响。

“我认为整个（大会）的主题是，除了共和党，你还有另一个选择：社会主义，DSA，”他说道，指的是美国民主社会主义者协会，该协会将在本届选举周期中扩大其在国会的影响力。

他说：“我认为我们已经充分说明了为什么共和党是正确的选择，也是现在最好的选择。”