US Midterm Elections a Month Away... Trump Goes All-Out to Rally the Republican Base

Trump Announces 32-Day Campaign Blitz
Key Battle to Retain House and Senate Majorities
Poll Shows 51% Support for Democrats in the House

With only about a month left until the U.S. midterm elections in November, U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a final campaign blitz. While numerous analyses suggest the Democratic Party is currently favored over the ruling Republican Party, there are predictions that President Trump will focus on rallying Republican strongholds to secure support in conservative-leaning regions.

U.S. President Donald Trump is answering questions from reporters at the White House after meeting with executives of artificial intelligence (AI) companies on the 29th (local time). Photo by AP Yonhap News

On the 29th (local time), President Trump met with reporters at the White House and stated, "Starting with my visit to Texas on the 1st of next month, I will embark on a 32-day intensive campaign until the midterm elections." He is also scheduled to visit Ohio, Alabama, and Nebraska sequentially by next week.

President Trump also said, "Everyone wants me to come," adding, "I'm only one person, but everyone is asking me to campaign for them," dismissing recent reports that some Republican candidates are distancing themselves from him.

International media have focused on President Trump’s campaign itinerary. AP News pointed out that while President Trump initially announced he would support 35 key battleground regions, his actual schedule notably includes states with a traditional Republican advantage. However, the Republican Party emphasized that this move does not suggest that their competitiveness in those regions has weakened.

The upcoming elections will determine whether the Republican Party can retain its current majorities in both the Senate and House of Representatives. If Democrats secure a majority in either chamber, they would be able to exercise influence not only over legislative and budget reviews during President Trump’s final two years in office but also over investigations into the administration.

The prevailing outlook is that the current situation favors the Democrats. According to The Hill, in the latest poll by Quinnipiac University conducted from the 24th to the 26th with 1,032 registered voters, 51% of respondents said they want Democrats to hold a majority in the House of Representatives.

Those who supported the Republican Party accounted for 39%, showing a 12-percentage point gap between the two parties. Compared to the poll on the 10th of this month, which showed Democrats at 49% and Republicans at 38%, the gap has remained similar. The margin of error for this survey is ±3.8 percentage points.

Democratic voters appear to be more enthusiastic about voting than Republican supporters. The New York Times (NYT) reported that an analysis of this year’s primary election results for major states from March to September revealed Democratic turnout exceeded Republican turnout in several places. Notably, even in Texas—where President Trump won by a 14-percentage point margin in the 2024 presidential election—about 150,000 more people participated in the Democratic Senate primary than the Republican one. In other key battleground states such as Michigan, Georgia, and North Carolina, the number of Democratic primary voters also surpassed that of the Republicans.

Dissatisfaction with the Trump administration’s economic policies could translate into increased support for Democrats. U.S. online media outlet Axios analyzed that high prices, mortgage rates exceeding 7%, and debt burdens from credit cards and auto loans are worsening voters' perceptions of the economy. While economic growth and employment indicators remain relatively stable, it has been pointed out that recent wage increases have not kept pace with rising prices.

Axios also reported that attracting so-called "low-propensity voters"—those who voted for President Trump in the presidential election but tend to show lower turnout in midterms—to polling stations is a challenge the Republican Party must address. A government official stated, "Our task is to turn Trump voters into midterm voters."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.