WASHINGTON (AP) — As early voting surges across the country, President Donald Trump reshuffled his weekend schedule to rally Republicans in two states with critical Senate races, underscoring his party’s push to drive turnout before Election Day.
Less than 24 hours after canceling planned weekend visits to Iowa and Kansas, the Republican president abruptly rescheduled back-to-back campaign rallies in those states on Sunday. Trump said he had received calls from “my friends” in the states who wanted the live events rather than tele-rallies. “They said, ‘If you can go, you would be better than a tele-rally,’” Trump said.
The last-minute reversal comes as Americans engage briskly in early voting. Nearly 10 million more Americans had cast ballots five days before Election Day than at the same point in 2022, according to an Associated Press analysis of voting data. The increases have been particularly pronounced in states with competitive Senate races — including Iowa and Kansas, where early voting is up roughly 30%.
Democrats and Republicans each hope that rise favors them as they fight for control of Congress in an election that has turned largely on affordability issues and the president's unpopularity. At the start of the month, Trump promised a marathon sprint of his signature rallies to shore up Republican candidates, and he has headlined 25 of them so far in October.
Criminal investigation confirmed into would-be spoiler candidate in Alaska
Trump has also signaled his administration would aggressively pursue an investigation into an alleged scheme to confuse voters in Alaska, another state with a competitive Senate race.
U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman in Alaska confirmed on Friday a probe — underway for months — into a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent. Heyman said law enforcement assets were surged to the state this week after The New York Times reported that Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting Dan J. Sullivan to run in the race alongside her Republican opponent, Sen. Dan Sullivan.
Peltola denied on Thursday that she knew anything about the work to add another candidate with her opponent’s name to the ballot. The Justice Department said it wants to isolate ballots ranking Dan J. Sullivan to test the level of “confusion” among voters.
Weekend rallies back on after Trump says, ‘I don’t feel I have to go’
Trump landed in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday night to rally supporters ahead of his renewed plans to return to Kansas and Iowa, home to battleground Senate races that will help determine whether Republicans hold onto their narrow majority in the chamber in the midterm elections.
Trump has already traveled to both states this month to boost Sen. Roger Marshall in Kansas and Republican Iowa Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, who currently serves in the House.
Trump told a Kansas City radio station Friday that Marshall is “fantastic” and credited the senator for pushing his administration on policies benefiting Kansas farmers, such as expanding tax-free use of red-dyed diesel.
Trump criticized Marshall's Democratic challenger, Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton, as a "radical” who has “caused turmoil with the church because he’s so liberal.” Hamilton has said that if Jesus were standing before them now, “Roger Marshall would call him ‘woke.’”
Fighting between Michigan Democrats returns to the headlines
In Michigan, where Democrats had hoped to put a bruising Senate primary behind them after progressive Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in August, fighting between the rivals again dominated headlines.
Stevens reemerged in the final week before the general election, appearing on CNN to reaffirm that she would vote for El-Sayed while calling on him to repair relations with Jewish and Black voters. Her appearance came hours after her fiance said he would vote for El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers.
Then on Friday, after agreeing to campaign alongside El-Sayed and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina in Detroit on Sunday, Stevens released a lengthy statement on social media criticizing her former rival and demanding he condemn an advertisement linking U.S. support for Israel to rising grocery prices and address concerns about his past rhetoric.
“Abdul promises to get money out of politics,” Stevens wrote. “He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford.”
El-Sayed has apologized for some of his past comments while attempting to unify Democrats. But in a statement Friday, El-Sayed touted his defeat of Stevens and said that while she “seems intent on relitigating a primary... let's all focus on the task at hand: beating Mike Rogers."
Both parties hope a surge in voting favors them
Early voting is significantly outpacing the last midterm election, with millions more Americans casting ballots in advance.
In Texas, where voters are deciding closely watched Senate, House and governor’s races, more than 6.3 million Texans had voted early as of Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase.
Advance voting has also increased more than 30% from the same point four years ago in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas, states with competitive Senate races. In South Carolina, where voters are choosing a successor to the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, early voting is up 83%.
Historic amounts of money have flowed into this year’s midterm elections. Republicans have expressed concerns about their voters not turning out in the midst of voter dissatisfaction with Trump and high costs, issues Democrats have focused on in their campaigns.
Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard in Washington and Jesse Bedayn in Austin contributed to this report. Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 midterm elections at https://apnews.com/hub/elections.
