Trump Campaigns in Iowa and Kansas Ahead of Tuesday Midterms

President Donald Trump resumed his campaign tour on Sunday with rallies in Iowa and Kansas. The two states are central to the Republican effort to retain control of the U.S. Senate during the midterm elections scheduled for Tuesday.

Polls indicate that Democrats are tied with or leading Republicans in numerous races across Iowa. This stands in contrast to the 2024 presidential election, where Trump won the state by double digits. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released in October showed his approval rating among rural Americans dropping to 45 percent, a new low for the year.

Kansas presents a similarly tight contest, despite having last elected a Democratic senator in 1932. If Democrats gain control of either the House or the Senate, they will have the power to block the president’s legislative agenda for his final two years in office. They can also launch investigations into an administration that has previously worked with compliant Republican majorities. The White House has already begun preparing to implement parts of its agenda without congressional assistance.

Voting is accelerating ahead of schedule. The University of Florida’s Election Lab reports that more than 52 million Americans have already cast ballots in person or by mail. This figure sets a record for a midterm election and represents a jump from the nearly 46 million who voted before Election Day in 2022.

In Alaska, incumbent Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan stated on Sunday that he will accept the results of Tuesday’s election. This announcement came after a federal judge rejected a lawsuit filed by the presidential administration. The suit had sought to prevent Alaska from certifying a Sullivan loss if votes cast for a rival with the same name, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., could have altered the outcome.

Sullivan, a Democrat in the race against Republican Mary Peltola, joined other Republicans in accusing the younger Sullivan of confusing voters with his similar name. "They got the decoy guy on the ballot," Sullivan said. "I’m sure I’m going to lose a lot of votes to that trickery. So what I say to Alaskans is don’t let them get away with the tricks." Peltola and her campaign committee have denied involvement, while Sullivan Jr. Has denied coordinating with the Democratic side.

Kentucky Representative James Comer, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, said his panel has opened an investigation into Peltola’s role in the name confusion. Meanwhile, in Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed faces Republican Mike Rogers in another closely watched Senate race. Congresswoman Haley Stevens, a Democrat who lost to El-Sayed in the primary, endorsed Rogers on Sunday. Stevens appeared alongside Rogers at a Detroit church and posted a video stating, "You may have seen our Democratic nominee for US Senate, Abdul, said I was no longer welcome in his campaign and I should stay away. And he’s right. And that’s why I am endorsing Mike Rogers for the United States Senate today. I don’t belong in Abdul’s campaign." El-Sayed’s team had asked Stevens to skip his events to avoid distraction, while Stevens has demanded he condemn an outside ad that blames Israel for high grocery prices.