Republican lawmakers are heading toward the party’s unusual midterm convention this fall with one big question still hanging over the event: what, exactly, is going to happen there?
The GOP’s first national midterm gala of its kind is scheduled for September 9 and 10 in Dallas, taking over the American Airlines Center, the downtown arena best known as home to the city’s NBA and NHL franchises.
Joe Gruters, who is organizing the gathering, has said the convention is not intended to revolve around formal party business. Instead, he has described it as a large-scale, Trump rally-style production aimed at energizing Republican voters and activists before November’s midterm elections.
But with roughly six weeks to go, some Republican lawmakers say they still do not know what to expect. Several say they plan to attend, while others acknowledge that key details appear to remain unsettled as organizers continue working through the logistics.
“I think they’re still really putting a lot of it together,” one GOP senator said, adding that he had not been given a clear sense of what the program would include.
Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy was similarly uncertain about his own plans. “I have no idea,” Kennedy said when asked whether he would attend, noting that he expects to travel in support of GOP midterm campaigns but is not yet sure whether the Dallas convention will be on his schedule.
A Republican political operative with close ties to both the White House and Capitol Hill told the Daily Mail that the uncertainty is widely shared inside GOP circles.
“It’s still very largely up in the air, consisting of building the plane as they go,” the operative said, describing the state of planning for the convention.
Tickets for the GOP midterm convention in Dallas are being sold for thousands of dollars. Some VIP packages can reach up to $250,000 for attendees
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy has ‘no idea,’ whether or not he will attend
Texas Senator Ted Cruz said he was ‘sure’ he would attend the event in his home state, but does not know what to expect
Texas Senator Ted Cruz told the Daily Mail he lacked any details about the event in his home state, adding, ‘I don’t know what to expect.’
Senators Bernie Moreno of Ohio and Tommy Tuberville of Alabama both confirmed they would attend.
‘Anybody running for elections gotta go right?’ Tuberville, who’s running for governor in Alabama, said. ‘I’ll go for a day.’
Despite his enthusiasm, he too was still left wondering what will happen in September.
‘We haven’t heard the itinerary or anything yet. I’m hoping I have the opportunity to speak, but we’ll have to wait and see.’
What’s left unsaid is whether battleground state candidates will be traveling to Dallas and want to be seen with the President or associate with the GOP brand.
Senator Susan Collins is locked in another tough re-election race in a state where Trump is unpopular and independence is a virtue. Other candidates like Mike Collins in Georgia and Mike Rogers in Michigan will also be on the hot seat over whether to appear with Trump in the homestretch of the campaign.
Even incumbents not up for re-election haven’t fully committed to the event.
Missouri Republican Senator Eric Schmitt similarly answered, ‘I’m not sure.’
Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who’s not running for re-election, told the Daily Mail that she would not be attending the convention.
‘I don’t get invited to those things, c’mon,’ she joked.
President Donald Trump with wife, Melania, on stage after accepting nomination the final day of the Republican National Convention at Fiserv Forum in 2024
Representative Nancy Mace will not be attending the convention joking, ‘I don’t get invited to those things c’mon’
The event will not just be a giant Trump rally; it will also serve as a massive fundraising platform.
Tickets for the convention are being sold for thousands of dollars. Some VIP packages can reach up to $250,000 for attendees.
GOP strategist Rick Tyler credited the Republican convention as ‘different and innovative’ and feels Trump will have no problem bringing in a large crowd of attendees, but feels it will do more harm than help candidates.
‘If you make Trump the star of the show, then people are gonna be reminded of all the things they don’t like about Trump, which is the Iran war, the affordability, the high gas prices, the untamed inflation, the housing crisis, I mean, just goes on and on.’
‘The people who turn out are the people who normally would turn out to a Trump rally,’ Tyler said. ‘But that doesn’t translate into victories in marginal congressional districts.’
The Republican National Committee changed its rules earlier this year to allow for a midterm convention. Typically, conventions are only hosted during presidential elections.
‘I’m going to go to the convention,’ Florida GOP Senator Rick Scott said. ‘I met with Joe Gruters the other day, and so it’s pretty exciting what they’re doing.’
He declined to offer specifics when pressed on what ‘exciting’ things were in store.
