Dallas to – President Donald Trump says Republicans will hold their first national midterm political convention in Dallas on Sept. 9–10, positioning the event as a major campaign rally ahead of November’s critical House and Senate races.
By the time the weekend passes. Dallas will already be gearing up for a kind of political spectacle it doesn’t usually see in midterm years. President Donald Trump announced that Republicans will host what he called their “first-ever” national political convention for midterm elections. with the event set for Sept. 9–10 in Dallas.
Trump confirmed the date and location in a post on Truth Social, adding little else about what the two-day convention will look like. He called Dallas “one of my favorite places in the world” and said it would be a “RALLY like none other.”
The announcement lands as Democrats maintain an edge in public polling ahead of November’s pivotal races. A Quinnipiac University poll released on June 24 found Democrats led the GOP by 7 points on who Americans wanted to control the House of Representatives.
For Republicans, the timing is unusual. Political conventions are typically reserved for presidential election years, when parties formally nominate candidates for the general election. Trump’s plan breaks from that rhythm by staging a national convention around midterms instead.
Democrats, though, have had that playbook before. Midterm conventions were routine for Democrats in the 1970s and 80s, including a convention in Memphis in 1978 after that year’s midterms, and a gathering in Philadelphia in 1982 held in the summer before those elections.
The Dallas choice also follows months of speculation over where, or whether, the GOP would hold such an event at all. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is currently running for Senate, had hinted earlier this month that the convention would happen in the Lone Star State.
“I know that we are having the midterm convention in Dallas in September,” Paxton said. “I know that we anticipate [Trump] coming to that and speaking.”
With Trump’s post now fixing the date on the calendar, the political question shifts from “if” to “how big” and “what comes next” for the party as it tries to close a polling gap entering the fall campaign.
Donald Trump Dallas GOP midterm convention Sept. 9-10 Truth Social Ken Paxton Quinnipiac University House control 2026 elections U.S. politics political conventions