With midterm elections right around the corner, the first-ever Midterm Republican National Convention kicks off tonight in Dallas, where more than 50 speakers will highlight the administration’s legislative achievements and contrast them with Democrat policies.
Tonight’s session covers tax relief efforts, border security, mandatory voter ID through the SAVE America Act, GOP contenders in targeted congressional districts, public safety, and economic expansion. The night culminates with a keynote address from President Donald Trump.
WATCH LIVE: RNC Night 1 — Trump, Vance, Economic Relief & Midterm Contenders
Before Trump speaks, his administration is sending its heaviest hitters to Dallas. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will argue that the Trump economy is delivering lower taxes and a lower cost of living. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche closes out the 6 o'clock Central Time hour on government accountability, and Dr. Mehmet Oz opens the 7 o'clock hour with what the program calls a patient-first vision for American health care. Congressional leadership is stacked nearly back-to-back in the 4 o'clock hour: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).
The midterms are also a focus of the night. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton takes the stage in the 5 p.m. CT hour as a Senate candidate, preceded in the 4 p.m. CT hour by Michael Whatley, running for Senate in North Carolina, and followed later by Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), who is running for Senate.
Collins draws the most emotionally loaded segment of the evening, appearing after a five-minute video package on Laken Riley alongside Allyson Phillips and Riley's family.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), the Republican candidate for Florida governor, will highlight red-state success against blue-state failure. Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) will talk about Pennsylvania steel and the 11,000 jobs Republicans lead the fight to save. Filling out the House bench are Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), Brandon Gill (R-Texas), Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), and Rob Bresnahan (R-Pa.).
The runoff for the Republican nomination for governor in Oklahoma was about as close as it gets, but in the end, the candidate endorsed by President Donald Trump prevailed.
On Tuesday, former state Sen. Mike Mazzei faced off against state Attorney General Gentner Drummond for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. Trump tossed his support behind Mazzei and referred to Drummond as a "fake Republican, who donated to SLEEPY Joe Biden."
'We won tonight! Now we finish the job in November.'
The race was practically dead even from the moment results started coming in, but with 99% of the expected votes tabulated, Mazzei ultimately won by about 2,000 votes, 50.3% to 49.7%.
Late Tuesday night, Mazzei claimed victory and thanked his supporters.
"This campaign has always been about something bigger than one election. It’s about reclaiming Oklahoma’s potential, protecting our values, cutting taxes, strengthening our schools, defending our land, and building a state our children and grandchildren will be proud to call home," Mazzei posted on X.
"We won tonight! Now we finish the job in November."
Drummond likewise conceded defeat. "It was not the outcome that we wanted, and it sure was not the outcome we worked for," he told a crowd of supporters, "but ... I believe deeply in the right of the people to choose their leaders. So tonight I respect their decisions."
Oklahoma law has no automatic recount, so while Drummond could have requested a recount, he would have had to pay for it. He would have been reimbursed by the state only if the recount changed the results.
Drummond has been at odds with Trump and the MAGA movement as recently as this month. At a government employee summit reportedly held on August 3, he invited Democrats and independents to kill a ballot question that would "require proof of identity to vote in any election authorized by law and conducted by a county election board or the State Election Board."
"We have to vote 'no,'" Drummond said, according to leaked audio clips.
"Just don't tell any legislator I said that, OK? Every Democrat, every libertarian, every independent needs to show up at the poll."
About the audio clips, Drummond campaign chairman Matthew Parker previously told Blaze News, "These clips are a few seconds long, stripped of context, and selectively edited to manufacture a false narrative. We’re not going to pretend that spliced snippets on X are a serious representation of Gentner Drummond’s views."
As in the runoff, Drummond did not get his desired result regarding the voter ID ballot question. With over 75% of precincts reporting, it "was coasting to an easy victory with more than 56% of the vote," the Oklahoman reported.
Mazzei represented Tulsa in the Oklahoma Senate from 2004 until 2016, when he was term-limited. He also spent about a year and a half as the secretary of budget under current Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Mazzei will face Democrat state Rep. Cyndi Munson in November.
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Republican Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond is battling allegations that, during his gubernatorial campaign, he called on Democrats to defeat voter ID.
Drummond is in a runoff election for the Republican nomination against former state Sen. Mike Mazzei, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump.
'We have to vote "no" on both state questions.'
An audio recording of Drummond's comments spliced together was widely circulated on Monday. It appeared to show him telling attendees of a government employee summit, reportedly held on August 3, to show up to defeat the two state questions that will be on the ballot.
"We have to vote 'no' on both state questions," Drummond said, according to the audio. "Just don't tell any legislator I said that, OK? Every Democrat, every libertarian, every independent needs to show up at the poll. There might be a couple of you guys in here. Go to the polls! Right? It was intentional to put it on August 25 because traditionally only the Republicans show up, and traditionally the Republicans are not as strong in education as they should [be]."
One of the two proposals that will be on the August 25 ballot would "require proof of identity to vote in any election authorized by law and conducted by a county election board or the State Election Board."
A spokesman for the Drummond campaign told Blaze News via email that the remarks were taken out of "context."
"These clips are a few seconds long, stripped of context, and selectively edited to manufacture a false narrative. We’re not going to pretend that spliced snippets on X are a serious representation of Gentner Drummond’s views," said campaign chairman Matthew Parker.
Parker also stated that "Gentner was one of President Trump’s largest Oklahoma donors."
The president reiterated his endorsement of Mazzei in a post Tuesday.
A recent independent poll showed that Drummond is deadlocked with Mazzei, and the election will likely be settled by the 14% of undecided voters.
RELATED: Top Oklahoma Democrat forced to resign after trying to pay Ethics Commission with a forged check
Mazzei has raised $946,000 since June 2, according to the latest campaign filings, while Drummond has been able to raise $2,928,000 in the same time period.
The runoff election will decide who will obtain the Republican nomination on Aug. 25. Early voting for the election begins on Thursday.
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