President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at a midterm rally in Chillicothe, Ohio, next Wednesday, October 28, at 7 p.m., putting him back in the Buckeye State less than a week before voters head to the polls on November 3.
The visit would mark Trump's third trip to Ohio this month, according to The Hill, which reported the Republican National Committee announced the Chillicothe stop this past Wednesday. As Fox 28 reported, the president's remarks are expected to begin at 7 p.m. in Chillicothe, with the rally scheduled for Wednesday, October 28, 2026.
An event listing on events.gop.com shows doors opening at 3:30 p.m. and the main program set to start at 5:30 p.m., though the venue itself is still listed only as to be announced. That same uncertainty was echoed in reporting this past Wednesday, which likewise noted no location had been confirmed for the Chillicothe date.
No Word Yet on Husted or Ramaswamy Attending
The rally is widely expected to support Republican Senate candidate Jon Husted and gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, per The Hill's reporting on the trip. But according to NBC4i, there is currently no word on whether either candidate will actually appear alongside Trump at the Chillicothe event.
NBC4i's report also traced Trump's earlier Ohio stops this month: he spoke October 3 in Vandalia at Butler High School before appearing at the Covelli Center in Youngstown on October 12. Vice President JD Vance, who is from Ohio and previously represented the state in the Senate, has made a number of recent campaign stops of his own, The Hill noted. Vance held an election rally this past Wednesday in Sharonville for Husted and Ramaswamy, according to USA Today, which described the Chillicothe trip as part of Trump continuing his midterm focus on Ohio.
Two Toss-Up Races Draw National Money
The stakes behind the visit are considerable. Husted is locked in a toss-up Senate race against former Sen. Sherrod Brown, while Ramaswamy and Democrat Amy Acton are locked in their own toss-up contest for governor, The Hill reported. NBC News has called the Senate battle one of the most expensive and competitive in the country this fall.
That competitiveness is reflected in the money pouring into the state. The Senate Leadership Fund has invested an additional $14 million in Ohio to prop up Husted, bringing its total investment in the race to $93 million, according to NBC News. The outlet also reported that some Ohio Republicans worry Trump-loyal voters may stay home with the president not on the ballot himself, with one person telling NBC News, “I have real concerns that those voters just will not come to the polls.”
Trump carried Ohio by 11 percentage points in 2024, per Cleveland.com, a margin Republicans are hoping translates into momentum for Husted and Ramaswamy next week. With the Chillicothe rally landing just days before polls open, it represents one of the final high-profile pushes of the campaign's closing stretch, and a last-minute bid, as The Hill put it, to shore up support for GOP candidates statewide.
