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DALLAS — President Donald Trump is getting a much warmer reception from his fellow Republicans during this election cycle than his predecessor did from Democrats this time two years ago.
Conventional political wisdom dictates that the party in power will suffer losses in Congress during a midterm election year. Americans who oppose the president’s party are typically more motivated to vote than people who support their agenda.
But the GOP is banking on the opposite effect. The first-ever GOP midterm convention featured back-to-back keynote addresses from the commander-in-chief, as well as speeches from his Cabinet officials, allies and members of Congress.
“I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot,” Trump told his audience on Wednesday. Republican incumbents and candidates running in battleground districts this November also took the stage, and all speakers projected confidence despite Trump’s own low approval numbers.
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President Donald Trump speaks during the Republican convention at American Airlines Center on Sept. 9, 2026, in Dallas. (The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images)
“We ran together in 2024 on a ticket with President Trump, [Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa.] and myself — voters elected all of us to deliver real change and results, and we’ve actually been able to do that with securing the border and delivering historic tax relief,” Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the convention.
“Now what we’re seeing is in a midterm, we are actually going to defy the historic trends. Why is that? Because the Democrats are so far left they are totally out of touch.”
Republicans believe their warnings of Democrats’ socialist insurgency will help them keep their majorities in the House and Senate this year, along with touting Trump’s signature tax cuts in the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.
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Mackenzie is one of Democrats’ top targets in the election cycle, along with Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., in the suburbs outside New York City.
“He’s the President of the United States, and whether it was Joe Biden or Donald Trump, I’ve always shown up,” Lawler told Fox News Digital. “You have to be able to engage with the president, and, you know, frankly, this is where I think the Democrats have made a very big mistake. They could get a lot more in terms of what it is that they want if they would actually engage constructively.”
Lawler, Mackenzie and Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Pa., are the three vulnerable incumbents who took the stage during the convention last week.
Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., speaks with local law enforcement about the rise of antisemitism in New York City during a campaign endorsement event at Haverstraw Elks Lodge No. 877 in Haverstraw, New York. (Kyle Mazza/CNP)
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Lawler, for his part, introduced two residents from his district whose daughter was killed by an illegal immigrant in Chicago — a poignant symbol of what Republicans say could happen more often if Democrats win.
Trump has also campaigned in each of their districts in recent months as he crisscrosses the country in a bid to keep control of Congress for the latter half of his final term.
But it was not just vulnerable incumbents who appeared in Dallas alongside Trump. The two-day affair also brought candidates from across the country, even those running in tight races.
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“When people say that folks are running away from President Trump, I’ll tell you I’m certainly not doing that. And let me tell you why: because he has made promises to South Texas, and he has kept them, especially when we look at border security,” candidate Eric Flores told Fox News Digital.
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“My opponent, who said, you know, that the sleepy Joe Biden administration and the no-show border czar, Kamala Harris, were on the right track. Let me tell you firsthand, I was on Operation Guardian support, was a federal prosecutor on the border. It was a humanitarian crisis. President Trump, on day one, secured our border.”
Flores is running in a South Texas district currently represented by Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas.
Time will tell if the strategy pays off, but Democrats are already seizing on it in hopes that associating with Trump will sink GOP candidates like it did in 2018.
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Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., during an event on inflation at Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono, Pa., on Dec. 9, 2025. (Adam Gray/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Ryan Mackenzie, Rob Bresnahan and Scott Perry made their priorities clear tonight: they care more about Donald Trump’s cost-raising agenda than what’s best for the people of Pennsylvania,” Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Eugene DePasquale said in a statement.
“After jetting all the way to Texas to champion an agenda of higher gas prices, cost-raising tariffs, and healthcare cuts, Mackenzie, Bresnahan, Perry and the entire PA GOP have proven that they’ll put Trump ahead of our Commonwealth every single time — and Pennsylvanians are ready to send them packing this November.”
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Fox News Digital did not see Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., who is also expected to run a close race, at the convention, but reached out to his campaign for comment.