Midterm Election: Trump adds Iowa and Kansas stops after early vote surge

Voters in Iowa and Kansas will see President Donald Trump on the campaign trail this Sunday, a change that comes after he initially canceled both stops. The reversal means the president will hold back-to-back rallies in states where early voting numbers have jumped by roughly 30% compared to the same point in the 2022 election.

A person familiar with the plans said Trump will now visit both states on Sunday. These rallies had previously been dropped from his schedule. The decision follows an Associated Press analysis showing that nearly 10 million more Americans had cast ballots five days before Election Day than in the previous midterm cycle. The increases were most pronounced in states with competitive Senate races.

Trump’s office initially planned for the president to be in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday and Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday. Those plans shifted to a 72-hour sprint of phone rallies, or telerallies, designed to reach more voters nationwide. The Republican National Committee said the president would do telerallies instead of in-person stops. Now, the in-person events are back on the calendar, rearranged to accommodate the new phone rallies.

The Iowa rally will take place in Cedar Rapids rather than the originally planned Dubuque. Another person familiar with the plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the location change. Both Kansas and Iowa are home to battleground Senate races that will help determine if Republicans keep their narrow majority in the chamber.

On Thursday, Trump pushed back against reports that his health or fatigue caused the original cancellations. He lashed out at a reporter who asked about the change in his Kansas plans. The state is home to Republican Senator Roger Marshall, who is seeking reelection. Trump said he was not going to Kansas because Marshall was doing very well. He added that he felt perfect and did not feel he had to go.

The president has headlined 25 rallies in October so far. At the start of the month, he promised a marathon sprint of events to support Republican candidates. Both parties believe the surge in early voting favors them as they fight for control of Congress. The election has focused on affordability and the president's unpopularity.

In Texas, more than 6.3 million voters had cast early ballots as of Wednesday. That number is up 50% from the 4.2 million who voted at the same point four years ago. Advance voting has also risen more than 30% in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, and Kansas. In South Carolina, where voters choose a successor to the late Lindsey Graham, early voting is up 83%.

Historic amounts of money have flowed into this year's midterms. Republicans have expressed concern that their voters might not turn out due to dissatisfaction with Trump and high costs. Democrats have focused their campaigns on those same issues. Trump traveled to both Iowa and Kansas earlier this month to boost Marshall and Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson.

In a Friday interview with a Kansas City radio station, Trump called Marshall fantastic. He credited the senator for pushing the administration on policies benefiting Kansas farmers, such as expanding the tax-free use of red-dyed diesel. Trump criticized Marshall's Democratic challenger, Adam Hamilton, as a radical who has caused turmoil in the church because he is so liberal. Hamilton responded that if Jesus were standing before them now, Marshall would call him woke.