Trump Restores Iowa and Kansas Rallies as Early Balloting Climbs

President Donald Trump will hold rallies in Iowa and Kansas on Sunday, a reversal of cancellations announced earlier in the week, as more than 6.3 million Texans had cast ballots by Wednesday. Early voting is running well ahead of the 2022 midterm cycle, with nearly 10 million more Americans having voted five days before Election Day than at the same point four years ago, according to an Associated Press analysis of voting data.

The Iowa rally will be held in Cedar Rapids rather than Dubuque, according to a person familiar with plans that had not been announced publicly. Both states host competitive Senate races that will help determine whether Republicans retain their narrow majority in the chamber.

Trump had planned to appear in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday and Dubuque, Iowa, on Sunday. The Republican National Committee then said the events were canceled and that the president would instead conduct phone rallies to reach more voters. A person familiar with the schedule said the Iowa and Kansas rallies were rearranged to accommodate the new telerallies.

On Thursday, Trump rejected a reporter's question about whether the Kansas cancellation was tied to fatigue or health. "I'm not going to Kansas because he's doing very well," Trump said, referring to Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, who is seeking reelection. He added, "I feel perfect" and "I don't feel I have to go to Kansas."

Early voting has climbed more than 30% from the same point four years ago in Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and Kansas. In South Carolina, where voters are choosing a successor to the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, early voting is up 83%. In Texas, 6.3 million voters had cast ballots by Wednesday, compared with 4.2 million at the same point four years ago, a 50% increase.

Trump has headlined 25 rallies in October. He traveled to Kansas this month to boost Marshall and to Iowa to support Republican Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, who serves in the House. In a Friday interview with a Kansas City radio station, Trump called Marshall "fantastic" and credited him for pressing the administration on policies benefiting Kansas farmers, including expanded tax-free use of red-dyed diesel. Trump described Marshall's Democratic challenger, Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton, as a "radical" who has "caused turmoil with the church because he's so liberal." Hamilton has said that if Jesus were standing before them now, "Roger Marshall would call him 'woke.'"

In Michigan, Rep. Haley Stevens reappeared in the final week before the general election. She appeared on CNN to say she would vote for Abdul El-Sayed, the Democrat who narrowly defeated her in the August primary, while calling on him to repair relations with Jewish and Black voters. Her fiance said hours earlier that he would vote for El-Sayed's Republican opponent, Mike Rogers. On Friday, after agreeing to campaign alongside El-Sayed and Rep. Jim Clyburn in Detroit on Sunday, Stevens posted a statement criticizing El-Sayed again and asking him to address an advertisement linking U.S. support for Israel to rising grocery prices. "Abdul promises to get money out of politics," Stevens wrote. "He can begin by getting Israel out of his explanation for everything Michigan cannot afford."

Trump's rallies in Cedar Rapids and Kansas are scheduled for Sunday.