Trump shifts midterm rally blitz toward red states, not swing districts
Why it matters: The detour suggests Republicans are shoring up turnout in states that usually are safer than expected.
President Donald Trump has spent the final stretch before the midterms campaigning more often in Republican-leaning states than in the competitive districts he previously vowed to visit. After telling GOP candidates at a White House dinner in September that he would go to roughly 35 places, Trump has appeared with fewer than a third of them, according to NPR. His October stops have included Ohio twice, Texas twice, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arizona, Montana and Alaska, where Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich face tighter races than expected. The Republican National Committee also scheduled Trump for Kansas, home to a toss-up Senate race, underscoring how the party is now defending territory it normally would expect to hold.