Trump Closes Midterm Blitz With 30th Rally in Kansas, Urges Democrat Stevens to Join GOP

President Donald Trump closed his 2026 midterm campaign on Sunday night with his 30th and final rally, telling a crowd in Salina, Kansas, that he came in person because he wanted to make sure Republican Sen. Roger Marshall wins re-election.

“This is my 30th rally, and I’m closing it down tonight, this is it,” Trump said, according to USA Today. “I had to come here to make sure that Roger got elected.”

The Salina stop capped a two-state closing swing on the final Sunday before Election Day on Tuesday, November 3, when all 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are on the ballot. Earlier Sunday, Trump rallied in Dubuque, Iowa, for Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson and other Iowa Republicans, before flying to Kansas to campaign for Marshall and the state’s Republican ticket.

Both rallies had briefly been canceled in favor of shorter tele-rallies, then restored to the president’s schedule. Trump took the stage in Salina at around 8:22 p.m. local time, walking out to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” at an airport hangar rally, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

A surprisingly tight race in deep-red Kansas

Trump won Kansas by 16 points in 2024, the Wall Street Journal noted, yet he closed his campaign there because Marshall’s race against Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton, a megachurch pastor, has become unexpectedly tight. Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932.

Marshall told the Journal he was surprised the president decided to return after first canceling. “He knows there are about 175,000 Kansans that only vote when Trump is on the ticket, and he wanted to come out one more time and encourage those people to get out and vote,” Marshall said.

Trump leaned into that message in Salina, repeatedly urging the crowd to vote as if he were on the ballot himself. “All I’m asking you to do is one thing: get out and vote because if you do, we’re going to have tremendous success,” he said. “I really want you to pretend I’m on the ballot.”

He also defended Marshall against a New York Times report that found Marshall had sued hundreds of his OBGYN patients. “Just like everything else, the Democrats are trying to blame him, and he’s too fine a man,” Trump said. “That’s why I wanted to come tonight.”

Trump said he initially “wasn’t thrilled” about running against a pastor until he saw the Democrats’ record, which he called “horrible.” Other Kansas Republicans spoke before him, including Sens. Jerry Moran and Marshall and Reps. Ron Estes and Tracey Mann.

Stevens endorsement shadows the final weekend

The closing rallies unfolded against the weekend’s biggest midterm surprise: Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan endorsed Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers on Sunday, two days before Election Day, after appearing with him at a Detroit church service.

Stevens, who lost Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed, said in a video message that she did not belong in El-Sayed’s campaign. Trump praised the move in Iowa, calling her endorsement “brave,” and said he would love for Stevens to join the Republican Party.

Democrats reacted furiously. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the endorsement “a despicable betrayal” and said Senate Democrats remain united behind El-Sayed, who he said “will fight for the economic interests of working families in Michigan, unlike Mike Rogers, who is a tool of Donald Trump and billionaire donors.”

Stevens defended herself Sunday night in a CNN interview, saying she still loves her party and wanted to help El-Sayed’s campaign “and stand up for people who feel hurt.” She said El-Sayed had told her he did not need her endorsement. “I changed my mind, you know? (El-Sayed) said, ‘Hey, I don’t need your endorsement.’ That’s fine,” she said. Asked whether she wants Democrats to win the Senate, she answered, “I absolutely do.”

In the same interview, Stevens called Trump a dictator and said some of El-Sayed’s actions had “certainly been anti-Semitic,” while adding that she was “sick of who he stands with.” A former Stevens campaign adviser told USA Today that two campaign ads had deeply troubled her, including one she publicly demanded El-Sayed take down.

El-Sayed, for his part, dismissed the drama. “I actually don’t think about Haley Stevens,” he told reporters. In an interview Sunday night, he argued the race is not really about him, Rogers or Stevens, but about Trump. “Mike Rogers is going to be a vote for Donald Trump,” he said. “If you don’t believe me, just ask Donald Trump.”

His campaign said it has raised $1.2 million since Stevens endorsed Rogers, according to Politico. Polling still gives El-Sayed a narrow edge: the RealClearPolitics average cited by USA Today put him ahead of Rogers by 3.5 percentage points.

What happens next

Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks at the Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial on Monday, a White House official said Sunday, just hours before voters head to the polls. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who spoke at the Iowa rally, told voters to ignore polls showing Republicans behind. “You can dismiss the polls,” Johnson said. “The polls are wrong all around the country.” Johnson said he visited 45 congressional districts in 24 states in October.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration on Sunday appealed a federal judge’s decision throwing out a Justice Department lawsuit that sought to block Alaska from certifying its Senate results. The administration has pursued a series of election-related legal challenges in the campaign’s final days, a break from the usual practice of pausing politically sensitive actions before Election Day.

Early voting has already set a record. More than 54 million people had cast ballots as of Sunday, according to AFP, including 23 million mail-in ballots. Final national polls put Democrats ahead 51.5 percent to 43.1 percent, Al Jazeera reported, though party strategists on both sides cautioned that turnout on Tuesday will decide control of Congress for Trump’s final two years in office.

Trump closed the Salina rally the way he opened his campaign season: with a turnout plea. “We’re gonna be so big. We’re gonna win by so much,” he told the Kansas crowd, before asking them once more to vote as if his own name were on the ballot.

Frequently asked questions

Where was Trump’s final midterm rally?
In Salina, Kansas, at Salina Regional Airport, on Sunday night, November 1, 2026. Trump called it his 30th and final rally of the midterm campaign.

Who was Trump campaigning for in Kansas and Iowa?
In Kansas, for Sen. Roger Marshall and gubernatorial candidate Ty Masterson; in Iowa, for Senate candidate Ashley Hinson and gubernatorial candidate Zach Lahn, along with other Republican candidates.

Why did Haley Stevens endorse a Republican?
Stevens said she felt unwelcome in Abdul El-Sayed’s campaign after losing Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary to him, and said she wanted to stand up for voters who felt hurt. She said she still wants Democrats to win the Senate.

When is Election Day?
Tuesday, November 3, 2026. All 435 House seats and 35 Senate seats are contested, along with governor’s races in 36 states.

What did Trump announce for Monday?
Remarks at the Reflecting Pool near the Lincoln Memorial on November 2, hours before polls open.

Sources

• USA Today — Election live updates: Trump urges Stevens to switch parties after Rogers endorsement
• Topeka Capital-Journal — Live updates from Donald Trump’s election rally in Salina, Kansas
• Wall Street Journal — Trump Closes Out Midterm Rallies in Deep-Red Kansas
• Al Jazeera — US midterms live: last-ditch efforts ahead of Tuesday’s elections