Trump Opens October Campaign Swing in Deep Red Alabama and Oklahoma

President Donald Trump will begin October with rallies in two of the country's most Republican states, opening a campaign stretch in which he had promised to visit all 35 of the most competitive congressional districts.

Trump is scheduled to appear Thursday in Durant, Oklahoma, and Friday in Mobile, Alabama. Both events are expected to draw large, enthusiastic crowds, but the choice of venues has drawn attention as Republicans confront an electorate that has turned against the president and his policies.

Party organizers say the locations were selected with broader turnout in mind. The Republican National Committee noted that Durant sits on the Texas border and falls within the Dallas-Fort Worth media market, allowing it to reach voters in a state that has become central to the midterm map. Mobile, meanwhile, is close to the Florida panhandle, a Republican stronghold where heavy turnout could aid Trump-backed candidates for Senate and governor. Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody is not expected to attend.

"The President's ability to engage with and activate low-propensity voters is unmatched. That's why he'll be barnstorming the country to activate the voters we need to win in November," said RNC spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre, who promised additional October rallies.

Democrats seized on the itinerary. "The political floor is falling out from underneath Trump and Congressional Republicans, forcing them to scramble to spend and campaign in deep red territory in the final weeks," said Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Republicans have already been directing money into states long considered safe as they try to protect candidates facing an unhappy electorate. Some have also put distance between themselves and the president in recent weeks, removing or downplaying references to him on their websites and increasingly voicing opposition to his war with Iran.

In Oklahoma, Trump is campaigning for Mike Mazzei, whom he backed as the Republican nominee for governor in a competitive primary. Mazzei faces Democratic House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson. "This race continues to get more competitive – and national Republicans are right to be worried about Mazzei," said Kevin Donohoe, a spokesperson for the Democratic Governors Association.

Alabama carries particular symbolism for Trump, who held his first large rally in Mobile more than a decade ago, drawing roughly 30,000 people to a college football stadium and signaling to skeptics that his campaign was more than a celebrity novelty. "I think it's very natural that he would host a rally here as he is gearing up for the midterm elections," said John Wahl, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor and a former chair of the Alabama Republican Party.

Republicans remain heavy favorites in Alabama's statewide races, but the political environment is more difficult this year. Former Democratic Sen. Doug Jones is mounting a vigorous campaign for governor against Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a vocal Trump ally who welcomed the president's visit. Republican Rep. Barry Moore, who is running for Tuberville's Senate seat with Trump's backing, said the rally "will be the jet fuel we need to win big in Alabama."

Mobile is also near Alabama's 2nd Congressional District, which leans Republican after its lines were redrawn but is not assured for the party as it tries to unseat Democratic Rep. Shomari Figures. Figures has criticized the president's plan to lower import tariffs on foreign beef as he seeks support from cattle ranchers, while fending off a challenge from his Trump-backed opponent, State Rep. Rhett Marques.

Trump has said he intends to intensify campaigning in the final stretch. "It's all about 35 races," he said at a recent Rose Garden dinner with Republican lawmakers. "I'm going to go to every one of those 35 places and we're going to see if we can get everyone elected."