President Donald Trump is closing his midterm campaign with stops in Kansas and Iowa on Sunday, after a month long blitz that he himself described as exhausting. He had expected an October 30 rally in Florida to be the final event of the campaign, according to reports, but confirmed he would still travel to Iowa and Kansas over the weekend, with telephone based campaign events also planned for Sunday.
The closing schedule reflects the shape of the race. With more than 51 million Americans already voted, a midterm record, the remaining contest is over voters who have not yet cast a ballot, in states where a small swing can decide a Senate seat or a cluster of House districts. Kansas and Iowa, both states where Republican turnout operations are strong, are therefore logical final stops for a president trying to maximise his party’s vote in the last 48 hours.
Trump spent Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, according to reports, after attending a Halloween party there at which he continued attacks on Democratic candidates. In recent rallies, he has targeted political opponents with personal remarks, including attacks on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed over his Muslim faith, according to reports. In Kansas, Republican Senator Roger Marshall, who is seeking re-election, has made an allegation against his Democratic opponent, and in Texas, Republicans have targeted Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico with personal remarks, according to the same reporting.
A campaign of contrasts
The personal tone of the closing days contrasts with the procedural storylines running alongside the campaign: a federal investigation in Alaska, a ballot dispute in California, and record early voting totals that analysts warn should not be read as a forecast. Voters are therefore hearing two campaigns at once, one about candidates and character, and one about ballots and courts, and the final weekend has amplified both.
Democratic candidates have responded by focusing on turnout and on local issues, arguing that the election will be decided by who votes rather than by who shouts loudest. Their closing message, like the Republican one, is aimed at the same shrinking pool of undecided and not yet voted supporters, which is why both parties are spending the final hours on the ground and on the phone rather than on new policy announcements.
What Tuesday will settle
On Tuesday, voters will decide 35 Senate races and all 435 House seats, determining whether Republicans keep control of Congress for the final two years of Trump’s term. The Kansas and Iowa stops will not decide that outcome on their own, but they are a signal of where the campaign believes the remaining votes are, and of how much energy it is willing to spend to find them. After a month on the trail, the final message is simple: vote, and vote now, before the record early total becomes the final total.
