After Florida, Trump Redirects Final Push to Kansas and Iowa
President Donald Trump rallied supporters in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Friday night, urging Republicans to vote in the midterm elections that will decide control of Congress. Speaking for about an hour and a half at the Ocean Center Arena, Trump called them "the most important midterm elections ever" and campaigned for Florida Republicans including Byron Donalds and Ashley Moody. Several protesters interrupted the start of the speech and were escorted out as thousands of supporters shouted them down.
The Florida rally caps a frantic travel schedule: 35 stops since Labor Day, including 27 campaign events — 26 in-person rallies plus the two-day RNC Midterm Convention. On Thursday, the Republican National Committee said the weekend rallies in Kansas, originally set for Saturday, and Iowa, set for Sunday, were canceled in favor of tele-rallies covering about 20 states. Less than 24 hours later, the decision was reversed: both rallies are back on and will now be held on Sunday. Trump said he received calls from "my friends" in those states who told him an in-person visit "would be better than a telerally."
The reversal comes as Americans vote early in large numbers. Nearly 10 million more ballots had been cast 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 especially pronounced in states with competitive Senate races, including Iowa and Kansas, where early voting is up roughly 30%. Republicans are entering the final days navigating tight Senate contests in Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Iowa and Alaska, alongside closely watched races in Mississippi.
As Trump prepared for the Daytona Beach rally, Gov. Ron DeSantis warned on X that Republicans were "underperforming" in early voting in Polk County, a GOP-friendly county between Orlando and Tampa. He noted a 60,000-voter registration advantage in the county, which went for Republicans by 30 points four years ago — a reminder that turnout, not registration, decides the outcome.
On Saturday, the campaign's tele-rallies will target 19 states, including Senate battlegrounds such as Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas and South Carolina, plus House and gubernatorial battlegrounds including Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Trump himself heads to Kansas and Iowa on Sunday. Former President Bill Clinton campaigned for Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom in Tupelo, Mississippi, on Friday, Oct. 30, as both parties make their final get-out-the-vote appeals before Tuesday, Nov. 3.