The Republican Party is set to open its first-ever midterm convention this week, looking to spark sorely needed energy and a bump in the polls for its candidates.
The party has planned a two-day confab in Dallas beginning Wednesday. President Trump will deliver the keynote speech on both nights.
For the first time, the party will invite the public to buy tickets to the convention — dubbed Trump-a-palooza — and organizers expect attendance to reach 20,000.
Mr. Trump, appearing on a podcast Wednesday with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, rejected the label of a mini-convention.
“It’s going to be big stuff,” Mr. Trump said.
Some Republican candidates and lawmakers said they would miss the event because of scheduling conflicts, campaign debates or other commitments, but House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that “a huge number” of members of Congress and hopefuls plan to attend.
“I think it’s going to be an extraordinary opportunity for us to get a couple of nights on national television to talk about our extraordinary record of achievement and to push back against the false narratives that a lot of people in the media have advanced about this Congress,” he said.
The event will not be like a typical Republican National Convention, which is held every four years primarily to nominate the party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates.
There will be no nominations or votes on the Republican platform, but the rest of the program will look much like a typical party convention.
Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters said the event, which runs from Wednesday to Thursday at the American Airlines Center, will showcase candidates in key races and highlight the party’s accomplishments.
“Each hour will have its own theme, its own message and its own voices, building toward President Donald Trump’s vision for the next chapter of American greatness. This will be unlike any political convention America has seen before,” Mr. Gruters said.
More than 100 speakers are lined up. Programming will also feature the president’s successes, among them lowering prescription drug prices through negotiations with pharmaceutical companies and launching the TrumpRX discount site.
The agenda will highlight the president’s efforts to protect workers through his trade and tariff policy and his border security policies that have essentially ended rampant illegal immigration.
Organizers said Mr. Trump’s remarks will hammer home the party’s “sharpest partisan case against the extreme liberal Democrats,” which is likely to home in on the party’s expanding faction of socialists.
The National Republican Congressional Committee is asking Republican lawmakers to shell out $25,000 to attend the convention with a guest.
The price, NRCC campaign finance chair Beth Van Duyne of Texas told TMZ, is “an incentive” to ensure Republicans “are all supporting our party.” The money will go to helping candidates in competitive races in swing districts, she said.
Typically, lawmakers do not pay to attend the conventions held every four years because they attend as delegates.
Still, lawmakers in both parties are expected to pay hefty annual member dues to their respective fundraising arms. The parties have reserved luxury convention packages, including preferred hotels and tickets to special receptions for members who have paid all their dues.
The Republicans will hold the midterm convention as the party battles sagging poll numbers ahead of the midterm elections and frets over competitive races in once-solid districts.
The party controls both the House and the Senate, but could lose both chambers in November if Republican candidates fail to win close, swing-district races and statewide races.
Key races in typical Republican strongholds, including the U.S. Senate races in Texas and Iowa, are suddenly competitive as Democrats hammer Republicans over the high cost of living that is vexing voters.
Texas has long been a Republican stronghold and one of the most Trump-friendly states in the country, but polls show the Senate race there is a dead heat between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton.
Mr. Paxton, the Texas attorney general, is underperforming Mr. Trump in districts the president won by double digits in 2024.
The Republican Party’s standing with voters has suffered in the face of persistent inflation and high gasoline prices that spiked after the U.S. war with Iran. The economic figures have drowned out Republicans’ messaging on their signature tax cut law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which saved the average household $2,900 in taxes and reduced taxes on overtime pay and Social Security benefits.
Mr. Trump said on Mr. Patrick’s podcast that Mr. Paxton will be a focus of the convention and a featured speaker.
“We’ve got to get him elected,” Mr. Trump said.
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