President Donald Trump will hold campaign rallies in Wichita, Kansas, on Monday and Greenville, North Carolina, on Oct. 20, according to a Republican National Committee official, as his party tries to shore up two Senate races that were never supposed to be close. The visits come as national Republicans scramble to defend seats in states Trump won comfortably in 2024, redirecting money and star power into territory that has suddenly turned competitive.
RNC national press secretary Natalie Baldassarre said the president's stops are meant to protect and expand Republican majorities and boost turnout in strategic areas, as reported by Spectrum News. The Kansas stop is aimed at helping Sen. Roger Marshall, who is facing a tougher-than-expected reelection fight against Democratic minister Adam Hamilton, despite Trump having won the state by more than 16 points in 2024, per the same report. In North Carolina, the Greenville rally is designed to boost Senate candidate Michael Whatley and Laurie Buckhout, the GOP nominee in the state's 1st Congressional District, even though Trump carried North Carolina by just over 3 points in 2024.
Kansas Turns Into an Unlikely Battleground
Kansas has not elected a Democratic U.S. Senator since 1932, a nearly century-long Republican streak that makes this year's contest a historic anomaly, according to TIME. Hamilton's unusual strength traces back to his day job: he is the founder of the Church of the Resurrection in the Kansas City area, recognized as the largest United Methodist congregation in the country with roughly 22,000 active members, PBS reports. That grassroots name recognition has helped him mount a serious challenge in a conservative state where Democrats rarely compete statewide.
The Cook Political Report moved the Kansas Senate race to Toss Up last week, a shift that has alarmed national Republicans enough to change their spending plans. The GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund reserved $8.2 million in Kansas advertising in October, a level of spending typically reserved for traditional battleground states, TIME notes. The Senate Leadership Fund confirmed it was pulling back spending in North Carolina and sending more money to Kansas this month, according to Spectrum News.
Cooper's Cash and Polling Lead in North Carolina
While Kansas heats up, North Carolina's Senate race has moved the other direction for Republicans. An Elon University Poll published in September showed former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leading Whatley 49% to 38% among likely voters. Whatley previously chaired both the North Carolina GOP and the Republican National Committee, but he has polled consistently behind Cooper throughout the race, per Spectrum News.
The financial gap has been just as stark. Campaign finance disclosures through mid-2026 showed Cooper raised more than $35 million for his campaign, compared with $16.1 million for Whatley, according to WLOS ABC 13. North Carolina has not sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in nearly 20 years, and Cooper is running for the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Sen. Thom Tillis in a state Trump still carried in 2024, as reported by The Washington Post. The Cook Political Report has since moved the race to Likely Democrat.
A House Seat Redrawn — and Still a Toss Up
Down the ballot, Democratic Rep. Don Davis is trying to defend his U.S. House seat in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District against Buckhout in a rematch of their 2024 race, which Davis won by just 1.7 percentage points, according to WVEC. State Republican lawmakers redrew the district mid-decade to make it six percentage points more favorable to the GOP following Trump's 11.6-point win there in 2024, The Assembly NC reports, a move intended to help Republicans retain control of the U.S. House. Despite the friendlier lines, the Cook Political Report moved the district from Lean Republican to Toss Up last week, per Spectrum News.
Hoodline previously reported on Vance's Olathe factory stop and his Greensboro rally, both staged ahead of Trump's October swing to energize base voters for Marshall and Whatley. Those surrogate visits now look like the opening act for a presidential tour that is spending the bulk of October trying to convince voters Trump is effectively on the ballot, even in states his party usually takes for granted.
Economic Headwinds Shape the GOP's Map
Republican lawmakers and candidates are factoring in the war in Iran and high prices at home, alongside Trump's approval rating reaching a record low, according to Spectrum News. Those pressures help explain why Trump has crammed a sprawling travel schedule into a single month, having already campaigned in Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio, Nebraska, Texas, Tennessee and Alaska, with additional stops in New York, Arizona, Montana and Georgia planned or completed this month.
Hoodline has also reported on questions over Marshall's own residency, noting a paper trail pointing to Florida despite the senator calling a Kansas cabin home. Taken together, the swing through Wichita and Greenville next week reflects a midterm map under real strain for Republicans — one where even deep-red Kansas now demands a presidential visit to hold the line.
