President Trump announced on Tuesday that the Republican Party would hold an unusual midterm convention in September in Dallas as he seeks to mobilize his party before the fall elections.
Party conventions are typically held only in presidential election years. But Mr. Trump became enamored with the idea of a splashy midterm convention last year, and party officials have been planning the logistics of the event for months.
The convention will be held from Sept. 9-10, Mr. Trump said.
“It has never been done before, and will be a truly Historic Event,” he wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform, adding, “We will also have lots of Great Entertainment — It will be a RALLY like none other!”
The New York Times previously reported that Dallas had emerged as the likely site of the convention.
The party that holds the White House has historically lost ground in midterm elections, and Republican officials see the two-day convention just ahead of early voting as offering the party a large platform to make the case to stay in power.
A list of featured speakers and candidates was not immediately announced, but Mr. Trump said the event would feature “innovators, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, first responders, and job creators.”
Mr. Trump’s approval ratings have dropped sharply since his second term began, and some Democrats are eager for a convention where vulnerable Republicans in battleground states and swing seats will yoke themselves to him.
In the Trump era, the Republican Party has underperformed in elections where Mr. Trump himself is not on the ballot.
Democrats had briefly considered holding a midterm convention of their own, but the Democratic National Committee decided against such a pricey event.
The Republican National Committee, which is overseeing the party’s convention, entered June with more than $125 million in the bank, while the D.N.C. is saddled with more debts than cash on hand.
Party officials had searched for an arena and a city large enough to host the convention before settling on Dallas.
The location could bring added attention to the Texas Senate race, which pits James Talarico, a Democratic state legislator and seminarian, against Ken Paxton, the Republican state attorney general, who ousted Senator John Cornyn in the primary race with Mr. Trump’s support. Texas has not elected a Democrat statewide in decades, but Mr. Talarico has become one of his party’s top fund-raisers.
