Republicans will descend on Dallas this week for the party’s first-ever midterm convention, putting Texas at the center of the national political spotlight less than two months before an election that could determine control of Congress.
The two-day gathering Wednesday and Thursday at American Airlines Center is designed to bring some of the energy of a presidential nominating convention into a midterm election year. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Republican Party leaders and a long list of Texas politicians and candidates are expected to take the stage.
But the convention comes at a consequential moment for Republicans in Texas.
The state has been a reliable Republican stronghold for decades, but this year’s U.S. Senate contest between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico has developed into a closely watched race. Several congressional contests, particularly in South Texas, could also factor into the battle for control of the U.S. House.
That makes Dallas more than a convenient location for a national Republican celebration. It gives the party an opportunity to rally voters in a state that could play an outsized role in determining what the final two years of Trump’s presidency look like.
Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters has informally described the gathering as a “Trump-a-palooza,” an appropriate label for an event built heavily around the president and his political agenda.
Unlike a presidential nominating convention, Republicans will not be gathering to select a nominee, approve an official platform or count delegate votes. Instead, the two nights can be devoted almost entirely to campaigning.
Vance is scheduled to deliver a keynote address Wednesday evening, while Trump will close the convention Thursday. Texas Republicans will have a significant presence throughout the event.
The lineup includes Paxton, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, along with members of Congress and candidates running in competitive districts.
Rep. Brandon Gill of Flower Mound and Rep. Monica De La Cruz of Edinburg are among the Texas congressional members scheduled to appear. Candidates Carlos De La Cruz, Eric Flores and Tano Tijerina are also on the lineup, along with Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson.
The convention’s location also highlights how much has changed politically in Texas.
Trump carried the state in all three of his presidential campaigns and recorded his largest Texas margin in 2024. But his approval numbers have fallen since that election. An August Texas Politics Project poll found 43% of Texas voters approved of his job performance, while 51% disapproved.
At the same time, Republicans are trying to make sure voters who turned out for Trump in 2024 return to the polls when he is not on the ballot.
That challenge could be particularly important for Paxton.
Trump endorsed the attorney general during the Republican Senate primary runoff against Sen. John Cornyn, helping make the Texas contest one of the president’s highest-profile political investments of the midterms.
Now Paxton faces Talarico in November, and the race has attracted national attention and money.
Paxton has repeatedly emphasized the national stakes of the contest while campaigning, warning Republicans that if the party loses Texas, “we’ve lost the country.”
Trump is also making clear that Paxton will be a priority in Dallas.
“We’re going to have a lot of speakers,” Trump told Patrick during an appearance on the lieutenant governor’s podcast. “And the ones we want to focus on will be, obviously, Ken Paxton. We got to get him elected. He’s a good man. I know him very well. He really was a great attorney general.”
Trump’s political operation has begun putting money behind that message.
His team made a $10 million general election advertising buy in Texas over the weekend for streaming and digital advertising supporting Paxton and attacking Talarico. Trump has said he has close to $1 billion available for political spending and could use as much as $500 million during the midterm elections.
The president’s associated super PAC entered the final stretch of the campaign with more than $400 million available, making its spending decisions especially important to Republican candidates competing for resources around the country.
The Senate race is only part of what Republicans have at stake in Texas.
Several U.S. House districts are also expected to receive attention in Dallas after Texas Republicans redrew congressional boundaries last year in an attempt to improve the GOP’s chances of adding seats.
Some of those districts are in heavily Latino areas of South Texas, where Republican gains in recent election cycles helped transform what had once been reliably Democratic territory into one of the nation’s most competitive political regions.
The new boundaries were intended to strengthen Republican prospects. Competitive polling in some of those districts, however, has raised questions about whether the aggressive redraw could instead create opportunities for Democrats if Latino support for the GOP continues to weaken.
Republicans enter the campaign’s final stretch with a narrow House majority. Democrats, meanwhile, are seeking gains in both chambers, including the four seats they need to take control of the Senate while protecting the seats they already hold.
Against that backdrop, Republicans plan to use the Dallas convention to promote the administration’s record while drawing sharp contrasts with Democrats.
Each portion of the convention will highlight different parts of the GOP agenda, including tax cuts, border enforcement and what organizers describe as “cultural common sense.”
Republicans also plan to promote provisions contained in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, including the “no tax on tips” policy and the creation of investment accounts for children known as Trump Accounts. Both were priorities championed by Cruz.
The convention will also feature videos of Democratic candidates in marquee races as Republicans attempt to portray their opponents as outside the political mainstream. Talarico is expected to receive particular attention.
Rep. Roger Williams, R-Willow Park, said Republicans intend to make the contrast between the parties central to their message.
“All of us are going to get the message out,” Williams said. “It really has great timing from our standpoint, because now we can compare socialism, Marxism, communism with what Texas values are all about and American values: capitalism and free markets.”
Not every Republican is making the trip.
Some House members and candidates have decided to remain in their districts, while others have weighed the reported $25,000 contribution the National Republican Congressional Committee has sought from House Republicans attending the convention.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving, defended the expense, saying those contributions help Republicans elsewhere.
“Part of our dues are to make sure that we’re supporting other candidates who are in very tough, competitive races around the country,” Van Duyne said. “I think what that was is just kind of an incentive that we need to make sure that we’re all supporting our party.”
Texas Republicans, however, are expected to have a strong presence.
“We’re Texas — so we kind of better be there,” Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Tyler, said of his plans to attend.
Dallas also gives Republicans access to one of the country’s deepest pools of conservative political donors.
Trump specifically highlighted Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson while discussing the convention with Patrick. Adelson contributed more than $100 million to support Trump’s 2024 campaign.
“We’re having it in Dallas,” Trump said. “We have it in the great basketball arena, and Miriam has been fantastic. She’s the owner of the team. She’s been really great. And it’s going to be a phenomenal two days.”
Democrats do not intend to leave the political stage entirely to Republicans.
Texas Democrats plan to hold two news conferences each day near the convention, bringing state and national Democratic officials to Dallas for counterprogramming.
Talarico is also planning a “Love Thy Neighbor” grocery drive beginning Wednesday, an event intended to contrast his campaign’s focus with the Republican gathering.
“Billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians will gather at a convention in Dallas to clink champagne glasses and toast their own corruption,” Talarico said in a statement last week. “We’ll be doing something different.”
Trump has said the broader purpose of the convention is to reproduce some of the excitement normally associated with presidential election years.
“The conventions have been great, and a lot of good things happen,” Trump said. “And it brings unity.”
Whether that enthusiasm carries into November will be the larger question hanging over the American Airlines Center.
