President Donald Trump will headline a rally in Mobile, Alabama, tonight, launching a campaign blitz across at least 17 states before the midterm elections. The schedule includes battleground states such as Michigan, North Carolina and Georgia, alongside states Trump won by double digits in 2024, including Texas, Iowa, Alaska, Ohio and Kansas.
In Alabama, Trump will rally for Republican Senate candidate Barry Moore, who faces Democrat Everett Wess. NBC News rates both races as solid Republican contests.
Trump's campaign push comes as a federal judge in Texas blocked the administration from constructing a border wall and related infrastructure in Big Bend. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone ruled that plaintiffs—including landowners, businesses and environmental groups—are "likely to succeed on the merits of at least one of the claims." Cardone found "a likelihood that they will suffer serious, irreparable harm without an injunction." The projects are part of a $46 billion effort to build 30-foot steel walls, vehicle barriers, roads and surveillance technology along the southern border.
In Kansas, two former Republican governors have endorsed Democrat Adam Hamilton in his challenge to Trump-backed Senator Roger Marshall, who seeks a second term in a state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932.
Former Governor Mike Hayden, who served from 1987 to 1991, announced his support for Hamilton in an op-ed published by The Wichita Eagle. Hayden cited Marshall's positions on tariffs and the war in Iran, saying they have increased costs for Americans. "I ran for office for the first time when I was only 28 years old because I felt the person representing my community in the legislature was failing to fight for the needs of our state. Today, I am endorsing Adam Hamilton for the U.S. Senate for the same reasons," Hayden wrote. "Senator Marshall is failing to live up to that standard" of centering governance around the people's interests.
Hamilton said he was "honored" by Hayden's endorsement and praised the former governor for putting "party and politics aside to deliver for working families."
Hayden's move follows former GOP Governor Bill Graves, who served from 1995 to 2003, endorsing Hamilton last month. In a video, Graves said, "For the last six years, Senator Roger Marshall has turned his back on Kansas. In contrast, Adam Hamilton stands as a bulwark of kindness, humility, and service to others. It is for those reasons and many more that I believe Kansas should send Adam Hamilton to the U.S. Senate, and I'm proud to endorse him."
The endorsements signal Republican defections in a traditionally safe GOP seat. A leading Republican super PAC recently canceled advertising in North Carolina's Senate race and shifted resources to Kansas, where Democrats see an opening to flip a Republican seat.
