A majority of independent voters in Texas have said the Republican midterm convention in Dallas last week made no impact on their excitement to cast their ballot, despite President Donald Trump calling the event a “winner.”
The Republican Party, like the Democratic Party, typically holds a convention every four years where it announces its nominees for president and their running mate. But in an unusual move, Trump headlined a two-day conference to drum up support for GOP candidates ahead of November’s midterms.
Trump raved about the event’s success, saying it was “a solidly sold out winner for Republicans” — despite reports of many empty seats — in a Truth Social post Monday. “Should have a big impact on November 3rd,” he predicted.
But 68 percent of independent voters in Texas — a key target for Republicans and Democrats in general elections — said the convention made no impact on their excitement to vote, according to a new The Hill/Emerson poll.
The convention did galvanize Trump’s own party, with 59 percent of Texas Republican voters saying that the event made them more excited to vote. Fifty-three percent of Texas Democratic voters, however, were also more eager to cast their ballot following the convention — presumably against GOP candidates.
There’s a particularly competitive race in Texas as the state’s Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and his Democratic opponent James Talarico vie for a U.S. Senate seat.
While the convention was meant to boost support for candidates like Paxton, Trump insulted the Republican during his speech for two nights in a row.
The president took issue with Paxton’s fashion sense, telling the crowd Wednesday night, “He may not dress right. He may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best-looking guy I've ever seen, but you know what he is? He's the greatest Attorney General in America, and he deserves to be your next senator.”
Paxton and Talarico remained neck and neck in the new poll taken after the convention. Talarico had 47 percent of support from Texas voters and Paxton had 46 percent.
During his Wednesday night address, Trump also promised that his administration would pay a “Trump Dividend” to each American adult if voters helped Republicans keep the majority in Congress.
“So if the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” Trump said.
Critics accused the president of bribery while others questioned where the money would come from.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he believed the Trump administration can find a way to pay for the $5,000 checks without adding to the nation’s $40 trillion debt, but remained tight-lipped about the details.
“I’m not ready to discuss it at present, but at Treasury we’ve been working on it for quite a while,” Bessent said.
There were concerns ahead of the convention that Trump, with low approval ratings, would hurt GOP candidates' campaigns more than help them.
Trump had a net approval rating of negative 18 percent in a new The Economist/YouGov poll.
His administration has been dogged by an unpopular war in Iran that has raised gas prices for Americans and a massive immigration crackdown that has been criticized as too aggressive.
Fifty-two percent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of immigration compared to 45 percent who approved, according to the survey from The Economist and YouGov.
His approval rating for his handling of Iran was even bleaker, with 60 percent disapproving of his job on the issue and 33 percent backing it.
