The Republican Party has never held a national convention outside of a presidential year. That changes this week, when roughly 20,000 people descend on Dallas for what the RNC is calling its largest gathering in a decade — a two-night event built entirely around the midterms.
A Convention With No Nominee to Pick
Unlike the party's presidential conventions, there are no delegates and no votes on party business at this one. The Sept. 9-10 event at the American Airlines Center functions instead as a high-production rally — Trump speaking both nights, with the keynote address on the closing night, and Vice President JD Vance headlining night one.
Candidates, members of Congress, governors, administration officials, veterans, law enforcement, farmers, and small-business owners are all slated to appear, with the program built around the issues the RNC believes will decide the midterms: costs and incomes, border security, energy and manufacturing, and healthcare.
This is going to be big stuff.
President Donald Trump, on the Dallas convention
The Stakes: 35 Races
Organizers say the convention is meant to spotlight roughly 35 races that could decide control of the House and Senate, including Texas's competitive U.S. Senate contest. The Dallas Host Committee raised $45 million in private donations in under a month to stage it.
Not Everyone in Dallas Is Cheering
Democrats have told local outlets they're organizing protests to coincide with the event, targeting what they describe as the administration's economic agenda and its executive order on elections. Dallas police are preparing for a security footprint sized for a presidential-level event, even though no presidential nomination is on the table.
The convention opens Wednesday and runs through Thursday night.
