President Donald Trump is shifting into ‘midterms mode’ this week, and not a moment too soon.
The president won’t be spending his time on states he’s already won and races he’s already safe. When Trump lands in Las Vegas Wednesday to deliver an economy-focused address, the selection of Nevada as a midterm launch pad tells you precisely where the Republican Party believes the 2026 map is moving.
Nevada went for Trump in 2024. That doesn’t mean Republicans can coast. Governor Joe Lombardo (R) is the only incumbent governor running in a Cook Political Report toss-up race this cycle — which means he’s also the only sitting Republican governor who could lose his job in November. His opponent is Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford, and the race is genuinely competitive. A presidential visit focused on economic wins is the kind of boost Lombardo needs heading into the final stretch.
The House picture in Nevada is equally consequential. Rep. Susie Lee’s 3rd Congressional District — rated “Lean Democrat” by Cook — is exactly the kind of seat Republicans need to flip to maintain their majority. Lee has spent the summer attacking Trump’s tariffs as damaging to Las Vegas tourism. Her Republican opponent Marty O’Donnell is welcoming Trump’s visit specifically to contrast his economic record against Lee’s vote against the Working Families Tax Cuts.
That contrast is the right one to draw. Lee voted no on no tax on tips. She voted no on no tax on overtime. She voted no on the doubled child tax credit. She voted no on the $1,000 Trump Accounts for newborn citizens. And then she went on X to blame Trump for Las Vegas’s economic challenges — as if the woman who voted against the most consequential middle-class tax cut in decades has credibility lecturing anyone about protecting Nevada workers.
Very excited to welcome President Trump back to Nevada next week to discuss all the good that The Working Families Tax Cut has done for the people of our state.
If Susie Lee had it her way, Nevada families would have been seen their tax bill skyrocket and tipped workers would…
— Marty O'Donnell (@MartyTheElder) August 1, 2026
The California stop — a Tuesday RNC fundraiser in Los Angeles — serves a different purpose. California isn’t going red in November. But it is producing competitive House races that could determine control of the chamber, and the money raised in Los Angeles goes toward winning them. Meanwhile, the White House made sure to frame the California visit around the contrast that every Republican in the country should be running on: Trump’s record versus Gavin Newsom’s.
Largest middle-class tax cut ever. Most secure border in American history. Plummeting crime rate. Set against a governor under federal criminal investigation, hiding his tax returns behind a room with no cameras, presiding over ghost daycares and phantom Medicare billing and a state whose voter rolls are full of confirmed noncitizens he refuses to turn over to federal investigators.
That’s the contrast. California’s voters may not respond to it — but the donors writing checks to fund the races where it matters will.
97 days. Two states. One message: the economy is working and Democrats voted against all of it.
