Trump Restores Iowa and Kansas Rallies Days After Canceling Them as Early Voting Runs Nearly 10 Million Ahead of 2022

President Donald Trump spent the end of last week canceling and then restoring two campaign rallies. The reversal came with Election Day four days away.

On Thursday, Oct. 29, the Republican National Committee announced that Trump would skip planned stops in Kansas and Iowa and instead do a "72-hour sprint" of rallies by phone. The RNC said telerallies were planned for nearly 20 states, with more possible. By Friday, Trump said he would go anyway. He told reporters that people in those states called and said, "if you can go, you would be better than a telerally."

The plan is now back-to-back events today, Sunday, Nov. 1, in Salina, Kansas, and Dubuque, Iowa. The RNC confirmed both. The Iowa stop bounced between Dubuque and Cedar Rapids on Friday before settling on Dubuque, according to a person familiar with the planning.

The health question Trump swatted away

Trump had done 25 rallies in October as of Thursday. That fell short of a goal he once set north of 30.

On Monday in Corinth, Mississippi, with his voice raspy, Trump told the crowd, "God didn't make your vocal cords to do a rally every day." When a reporter asked Thursday whether health was behind the Kansas cancellation, he snapped back: "You've been following me for two weeks. I feel perfect."

Trump said he didn't need to go to Kansas because Sen. Roger Marshall "is doing very well." Marshall faces Democrat Adam Hamilton. An anonymous strategist with Republican Senate leadership said there was widespread curiosity about why the schedule changed.

Early voting is way up

An Associated Press analysis of voting data found nearly 10 million more Americans had cast ballots five days before Election Day than at the same point in 2022. Early voting is up roughly 30% in Iowa and Kansas, both home to competitive Senate races.

Both parties claim the surge helps them. Fox News contributor Kellyanne Conway cautioned Sunday that "participation in a poll is not the same as participation at the polls." She argued some Republicans won't answer surveys and said competitive Senate races remain "on a razor's edge."

Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, a former Biden campaign pollster, agreed on one point: voters shouldn't stay home because of good numbers. Democrats lead on enthusiasm, she said, but she conceded her party has had "insufficient investment, particularly in youth turnout," and credited Republicans and Turning Point USA with doing better there.

Money and approval

Trump said in an Oct. 20 Truth Social post that he plans to spend more than $400 million to help Republican candidates, and that more than $300 million had already gone to advertising, voter contact, rallies, telerallies, get-out-the-vote programs and "Election Integrity." He gave no breakdown by race.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll that week put Trump's job approval at 31%. The AP describes the election as turning largely on affordability and the president's unpopularity. It also cites voter frustration over gas prices and the war in Iran.

That puts Republicans on defense in places they rarely worry about. Trump visited South Carolina on Thursday for the second time in a month. Appointed Sen. Darline Graham faces Democrat Annie Andrews, a Charleston pediatrician, who is telling voters to "try something new for once." South Carolina hasn't sent a Democrat to the Senate in nearly three decades. Trump won the state by 18 points in 2024. Beyond South Carolina, the AP lists tight contests in Texas, Kansas, Ohio, Iowa and Alaska, with Mississippi also being watched.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a Saturday rally in Virginia Beach, backing Elaine Luria against Republican Rep. Jen Kiggans, that House Democrats are "on the verge of taking back control." He told CBS News a good night means "the majority." Asked whether Trump would accept a Democratic win, Jeffries said Trump "will have no choice."

The Alaska Senate fight

The oddest storyline is in Alaska. Independent Daniel J. Sullivan, a Petersburg resident, shares a name with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan. Federal officials have confirmed a criminal probe involving the candidate, and the FBI has contacted donors in at least two remote Alaska communities and in Massachusetts, asking about potential deception.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that the independent Sullivan was recruited by operatives linked to Democrat Mary Peltola's campaign. That claim comes from the Times' own reporting. It has not been established in any charging document, and no charges have been announced.

The Justice Department has sued to block certification of a possible Democratic Senate win, arguing the second Sullivan's candidacy violates the National Voter Registration Act. It also asked a court Friday to isolate certain Alaska ballots to investigate potential voter confusion.

The Alaska Attorney General's Office filed a motion Saturday to dismiss the lawsuit. Sullivan left Petersburg earlier this week. His current location is unknown.

Voters picking the wrong Sullivan is a legitimate election-integrity worry in a race that could swing Senate control. The Justice Department's legal theory, though, is now being challenged by the state's own top law office.

A judge's ruling on the DOJ's ballot-isolation request and the state's motion to dismiss is the next thing to watch. It could land before or after polls close Tuesday, Nov. 3.