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Republican candidates fighting tight races in the midterm elections in November are staying away from next week’s party convention being thrown in Texas.
A Daily Beast survey of battleground Republicans found that just two confirmed attendance for the Dallas event, while most others are keeping tight-lipped about their plans.
For the Republican Party, the whole extravaganza has become a nightmare.
With just over 50 days to go before Election Day, the GOP candidates with the most at stake are also in the biggest bind: show up for the president and his MAGA base or put distance between themselves and the increasingly unpopular president as they try to win over moderates back home.
The entire Dallas midweek gathering on September 9 and 10 has turned into a litmus test of Trump’s popularity to see who bothers to show up, and who is willing to snub the president’s support in the final stretch.
The Daily Beast asked more than two dozen candidates running for House and Senate seats in what are considered toss-up races if they were going to the convention—and the vast majority dodged the question.
Just two Republicans in tough House races confirmed they will be in Dallas next week. Neither Eric Flores in Texas nor Mike Bouchard in Michigan is an incumbent defending a seat.
When it comes to members of Congress fighting to hold their seats, the turnout for Trump-a-palooza could be ugly.
Both the House and Senate are out next week, but the Daily Beast has learned that a number of Republicans have already decided they will not be heading to the American Airlines Center in Dallas with a series of different excuses. Many more have avoided divulging their plans at all as the clock ticks down.
Rep. Tom Barrett is not attending. As his campaign aide put it, he’s in one of the toughest re-elections in the nation, and “his voters are in mid-Michigan, not Dallas.” Colorado Rep. Gabe Evans will also be absent and plans to focus on his district and connect with people there in the weeks leading up to the election.
“Most congressional candidates are better served by getting out of the national political jet-stream, and they’re better off reinforcing local credentials, local messages and local issues than trying to make the case for re-election from a platform in Dallas,” said Republican strategist Kevin Madden.
But he said the goals for the convention are to rally the most active base voters and grab the attention of swing voters. With both parties heading into the midterms, Democrats are much more motivated right now, so the convention is a way for Trump and Republicans to try to close the enthusiasm gap.
But some state Republican Party leaders have grumbled that the convention may be coming too late when candidates want to be on the ground shaking hands back home. The $25,000 price tag also does not help.
It comes as the midterms officially kicked off on Friday, with the battleground state of North Carolina being the first to start sending out absentee ballots.
But the challenges of navigating Trump won’t end with the convention next week in Dallas. The president said this week he plans to hit the road for the final stretch to drum up support for Republicans.
Trump indicated his cross-country campaign travel blitz will take place in the final 30 days because before that “people forget.” He suggested he will be all over for the most competitive races, but he specifically called out the Senate races in Alaska and Texas.
The Daily Beast has learned that while the president is eager to hit the road, the possibility of him visiting has not been met with the same enthusiasm on the ground in swing districts. Multiple campaign staffers quickly clarified that they’re not encouraging him to show up at all, despite his boasting about his election plans.
