DALLAS (AP) — Vice President JD Vance took the stage Thursday on the second and final night of the Republicans' midterm convention in Dallas, the party knowing that history is not on its side this election season but counting on President Donald Trump to propel voters to protect their House and Senate majorities.
With Vance taking the primetime speaking slot just ahead of the president, the convention is also teeing up a potential post-Trump future.
Vance has not said whether he will run for the White House, and Trump has yet to name an heir apparent, but the crowd roared “JD! JD!” when he stepped to the microphone.
“It is pretty cool to hear a crowd that is this fired up chant your name, so go ahead and do it again,” Vance said, and the audience obliged.
Republicans are rallying their voters in the midterms while some are also thinking about the next presidential election two years away.
“We’ve got a deep bench,” said Bruce Johnston, 62, who drove 29 hours with his son from Delaware to be in Dallas. “I mean you’ve got a lot of good candidates. I’d pick any of those for the primary. And we’ll get a good one.”
His son, Anthony, 33, said he believes Vance is being groomed as Trump's successor.
“No one’s Trump,” he said. “But I like him a lot.”
More immediately, however, Republicans face a potential reckoning this fall.
They are struggling to bolster enthusiasm for congressional candidates and laboring to overcome voters’ concerns about the economy and the war with Iran. While many Republicans skipped the confab at American Airlines Center, others still see solidarity with Trump as their best shot at winning, despite the president’s low approval rating.
Praise for the president gushed through the convention hall, including a video suggesting that “God made Trump” for this moment.
Republicans have spent two consecutive nights denouncing Democrats as extremists, and Trump capped Wednesday by making the outlandish promise of $5,000 to each American adult if his party wins. Such a proposal could cost more than $1 trillion and was roundly panned by budget experts — and even some Republicans in the president's party.
“The midterms are not supposed to be won by the sitting president,” Trump acknowledged during a lengthy primetime speech.
But he encouraged people to go to the polls as if they were voting for him: “Pretend I’m on the ballot.”
House Democrats, in Texas for a second day of counterprogramming, blasted the Republicans’ convention as an opulent spectacle for an out-of-touch president.
“As Donald Trump and JD Vance party away for two days, the average American family can’t afford the groceries,” said Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif. “Donald Trump does not care about the average American family or about affordability.”
Protesters chanting “say it loud, say it clear, Donald Trump’s not welcome here” marched down streets, but were stopped by police from getting too close to the site.
Vance’s keynote will be closely watched for any hints about his political aspirations. The vice president has demurred on whether he will run for president in 2028, but he’s widely expected to run.
Chants of “JD, JD, JD” broke out at Vance’s meeting with delegates from presidential battleground states Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and his home state of Ohio, according to one attendee.
The vice president, who also serves as the Republican National Committee’s finance chair, raised $2 million for the party earlier Thursday at a fundraiser in Dallas, according to a person familiar with the event who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The second night of the convention showcased some of the most electorally endangered Republicans in Congress and those challenging Democrats in tough races, as well as another potential presidential hopeful: Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who railed against liberal Democrats.
“We must stand and defeat the communists,” Cruz thundered to cheers. “We must stay America.”
Coming on the eve of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the evening solemnly marked that moment. It also produced a video tribute to Kirk, who co-founded the conservative group Turning Point USA. He was assassinated one year ago.
“His voice has only grown louder,” said Lucas Miles, a pastor and vice president at Turning Point. The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., drew chants of “USA!” as he honored Kirk and criticized Democrats.
At one point, Rep. Mike Lawler, who is fighting to win reelection in New York, appeared on stage with the family of Sheridan Gorman, who presented a “buddy bench” for Congress to sit together. She was fatally shot in Chicago and officials have charged a man they say was illegally in the country.
In a lighter moment, Marty O’Donnell, a composer who is challenging a House Democrat in Nevada, got the crowd to sing along to the earworm jingle he wrote for Flintstones vitamins.
The night's themes delved into what House Speaker Mike Johnson calls the “Contrast for America,” as Republicans showcased what they call their “Big Beautiful Bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts, and warned of a bleak future if Democrats take control.
The campaign slogan is a throwback to another Republican leader, Newt Gingrich, who offered a Contract with America. This time, rather than presenting a detailed list of priorities, Republicans are quick to portray all Democrats as in line with their most liberal candidates, some backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, and focused on investigating the Trump administration.
"It truly is a contrast between common sense and crazy," Johnson said. "We cannot and we will not allow them to take the majority in Congress."
With the Republican majorities in the House and Senate both at risk this fall, the president’s agenda for his final two years in office is also at stake. The margins in Congress are expected to be narrow, with a few seats in a shrunken map of competitive races determining the outcome.
Presidents past have acknowledged their midterm losses — Barack Obama called his 2010 setbacks a “shellacking,” George W. Bush labeled his a “thumping.”
But Trump often refuses to accept defeat, including his false claims that he, rather than Joe Biden, won the 2020 election. One of the many people he pardoned for their actions in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, former Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, appeared at the convention.
Trump on Wednesday predicted that “the great American majority is going to stand up and continue to Make America Great Again. And we will make our voices heard, perhaps like never before.”
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Mascaro reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Thomas Beaumont and Jamie Stengle in Dallas, Will Weissert, Steven Sloan, and Aamer Madhani in Washington, JJ Cooper in Phoenix, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, and Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, contributed to this report.
