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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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President Donald Trump told a crowd in Kansas Sunday that he "could have been at home watching television," as a new poll showed Democrats leading in all seven battleground Senate races.
Trump won Kansas and Iowa—where he also rallied Sunday—comfortably in 2024, but with control of the U.S. Senate at stake, Republicans are relying on the president to help defend seats in both states, as polling from *The New York Times/*Siena showed Democrats running unusually close in historically red territory.
"For the past 32 days, I've traveled all across the country, spoken at…this is my 30th rally," Trump told the crowd in Salina, Kansas. "I'm closing it down tonight. This is it. I had to come here and make sure that Roger got elected. I had to do it. He's a good man, he's a great man, actually, he's one of the most respected people in Washington.
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"I didn't want to take a chance. I could have been home watching television, or some crappy thing; I'd rather be with you," Trump said.
His closing message included attacks on Democratic Kansas Senate candidate Adam Hamilton, a renewed suggestion that the Strait of Hormuz be renamed the Trump Strait and New Mexico be renamed "New America," and an appeal to ranchers to provide more beef amid high prices.
Earlier Sunday evening, the Times/Siena survey, of 5,708 likely voters across key battleground states October 23-November 1, showed Democrats taking the lead in all seven states.
Newsweek reached out to the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee for comment via email outside of normal working hours Sunday evening.
What Latest Polls Show in Iowa, Kansas
Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932, but the party is hoping it can finally flip one of the state's two seats with Hamilton.
The polling released by the Times Sunday showed the Democrat with a 5-point lead over his rival, GOP Senator Roger Marshall. Hamilton had 49 percent of the vote compared to 44 percent for Marshall, according to the survey of 736 likely voters. The last Times poll, from September 22-30, showed the candidates with 45 percent each.
Iowa's race appeared far closer, with Democrat Josh Turek showing a 1-point lead over GOP Rep. Ashley Hinson, with a 48-47 split. The race in Iowa has been far closer, with polls shifting between the two candidates in the lead over recent months, with only a few points in it.
Elsewhere, in Texas, Democrat James Talarico led Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton by 7 points, 50 percent to 43 percent, while in Michigan, Democrat Abdul El-Sayed had an 11-point lead over Republican Mike Rogers.
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Trump's Closing Messages in Sunday Rallies
Trump spoke for around 160 minutes in Iowa, spending around 23 minutes on issues affecting the state and its candidates.
The president's closing messages in both rallies, just hours apart, were similar, focusing on what he views as his achievements and criticism of the Democratic Party.
Those critiques came with warnings Trump has made before, including that if Democrats win control of Congress, they will offer gender-affirming care to all children in schools without parents' permission—a claim which has repeatedly been disproven—and that they would seek to reopen the southwest border with Mexico.
"We are now in the golden era," Trump told the crowd in Iowa earlier Sunday, saying earlier that, "We've never been stronger. We're the most respected nation anywhere in the world."
Voters have repeatedly raised worries about the cost of living, something the president has sought to place blame for with his predecessor, President Joe Biden. Speaking Sunday, he said that he had inherited high prices and that these were now on the way down, despite data largely showing otherwise.
The Times poll, however, showed Democratic candidates with an advantage over Republicans when voters were asked which party's Senate candidates would do a better job addressing the cost of living. The advantage was 9 points in Kansas and 4 points in Iowa.
In Kansas, where the president once again faced hecklers, as he has in other recent speeches, Trump announced an investment he said would help homebuyers.
"Today I'm also announcing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be investing $4.3 billion in Kansas mortgages next year to help 15,000 Kansas homebuyers achieve their American dream," he said.
Why The Polls Matter Now
Trump's closing messages to voters came as part of a countrywide tour in support of Republican candidates at the gubernatorial, Senate, and House levels amid difficult polling numbers for the GOP after two years of the party holding control of Congress and the White House.
Whether Democrats actually capture Iowa or Kansas may be less important to the national picture than what the competitiveness of the two races says about the political environment.
Trump's presence in states he carried comfortably in 2024 illustrates how much of Republicans' final campaign has become about protecting territory they once had little reason to fear losing.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Steven Frank.
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