Trump takes midterm campaign push to Ohio, Alaska, Arizona and Montana

President Donald Trump opens a new week of midterm campaigning Monday in territory his party normally takes for granted, a sign of how tight the fight for Congress has become.

Trump will rally Monday in Youngstown, Ohio for Republican Senator Jon Husted, who is locked in a close race with Democrat Sherrod Brown. On Tuesday he heads to Alaska, where Republican Senator Dan Sullivan faces a tough challenge from Democrat Mary Peltola. The swing also takes in Arizona and Montana, all states Trump won in 2024. By week's end he will have campaigned in 11 states in two weeks, including two stops each in Texas and Ohio.

The president is racing political headwinds. Gasoline prices are high, the war with Iran drags on, and polls show Republicans at risk of losing their hold on Congress for the final two years of his term. Speaking to reporters Saturday night after a stop in Clarksville, Tennessee, Trump said he was visiting friendly states partly to thank voters who backed him before, but he promised to campaign in more contested ground as well.

The Senate map is the immediate worry for Republicans. Husted, appointed to the Senate and now seeking a full term, has been unable to shake Brown, the former senator mounting a comeback. In Alaska, Sullivan's race against Peltola, the former House member, has tightened into one of the cycle's marquee contests.

Democrats need only a handful of seats to take the House and are contesting the Senate map aggressively. With early voting already underway in some states, including Tennessee where it begins October 14, the next three weeks will decide whether Trump's late push can hold the line.