President Donald Trump is scheduled to kick off a month-long blitz of campaign stops with a Thursday rally in deep-red Oklahoma before heading to other states with strong Republican leanings.

The first events in the closing stretch of the midterm election campaign suggest his strength with swing voters is limited, as even some Republican candidates seek distance, political analysts said. 

Trump’s low approval ratings amid growing consumer costs, spiraling gas prices and an unpopular war in Iran have put U.S. Senate races in typically GOP-leaning states like Alaska and Iowa in play.

After the Oklahoma rally, the president will travel to Alabama and Ohio through the weekend. On Monday, he will be in Nebraska.

He has vowed he would make another stop in Texas soon as part of 32 days of travel before the Nov. 3 elections that will determine control of Congress. 

Vice President JD Vance also rallied voters in Texas on Wednesday before a planned event in Florida on Thursday.

The red-state itinerary makes it appear Trump will be used to rally the base, rather than attempt to win over voters who switch preferences from one election to another, said Chandler James, a political science professor at the University of Oregon. 

“These are places where Trump has the most support that he’s retained, and probably has the most influence,” he said. “Trump still has a lot of sway within the Republican Party, and he has a pretty sizable political base, many of whom don’t traditionally show up for elections besides when Trump is on the ballot.”

In more traditionally contested states, such as North Carolina, Michigan or New Hampshire, the median voter may be further to the left and have a lower opinion of Trump, James said. 

“He can still help, but he has to do so in different ways,” Christopher Stout, a political science professor at Oregon State University, said. “Going to places where you might be able to recruit supporters rather than places where it’d be easy for Democrats to say, ‘Look how closely this candidate is tied to a president whose popularity is pretty low.’”

Trump’s approval rating was hovering Wednesday near 37%, with 60% disapproving, according to The New York Times polling average.

‘They all want me’

Trump told reporters Tuesday he was strongly in demand for campaign appearances.

“I’m one person. They all want me to go campaign,” he said. “In about two days, I’m starting a literally 32-day tour. … I’m going to Texas. I’m going to Ohio. I’m going to all different places.”

Candidates from a president’s party typically face strong headwinds in midterm elections, a phenomenon that is likely to be especially true this year as Trump faces historically low approval ratings, James said. 

Republicans could minimize that disadvantage, while still appealing to Trump’s supporters, by keeping him focused on redder states and districts.

The base-focused strategy could also help recruit volunteers who can work across state lines or raise money, Stout said.

Texting and other technology allows volunteers to be active remotely, meaning that volunteers fired up in Oklahoma or Alabama could be helping mobilize Republican voters in Georgia or Iowa.

No longer a change agent

But there are indications Trump’s support is cracking even in red areas.

U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a Republican from Florida, released a campaign ad in September in which she said Trump’s immigration policy had “gone too far.” 

Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, a Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, criticized the Iran war in a social media post last week.

The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter in late September moved Salazar’s race to “lean Republican,” a shift signaling a more competitive race. The open Senate seat in Iowa is rated as a tossup, although the state’s entire congressional delegation is currently Republican.

Even Ken Paxton, the far-right Texas attorney general who is running for U.S. Senate, privately groused that Trump’s two-night midterm convention in his state hurt his polling in the close race against Democrat James Talarico, according to leaked audio obtained by The New York Times. 

Paxton, a polarizing figure who defeated the more moderate incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary this year, also faces a tossup race against Talarico, even though the last Democrat to win a Senate seat in the reliably Republican state resigned to run for vice president in 1988.

Part of the challenge for Republicans is that swing voters in recent elections are looking for change, Stout said. That has helped Trump in the elections he ran while not in office, but that advantage has evaporated.

“A lot of those swing voters, many of them just want change,” Stout said. “They want things to be different. So in 2016 and in 2024, he represented that change. In 2026, he represents the status quo. And so if people want change, he’s not the person you want there.”

President Donald Trump has, at times, justified his campaign against mail-in voting in explicitly partisan terms, claiming Republicans’ electoral chances hinge on whether the practice is allowed.

A new analysis from a Democratic-aligned voting rights group, shared first with States Newsroom, shows he may be right: Eliminating mail-in voting would be more disruptive to Democratic voters than Republicans.

Fair Fight Action, a Georgia-based advocacy group founded by Democratic former state Rep. Stacey Abrams, analyzed vote-by-mail data in seven 2024 swing states and potential battlegrounds for the 2026 midterm elections. 

Records indicated that Democrats voted by mail more often than Republicans.

The partisan differences didn’t swing any battleground states in the 2024 presidential election, all of which Trump won.

But if Trump succeeds in restricting mail voting in the 2026 midterms, which he is attempting through a contentious executive order directing the U.S. Postal Service to enforce new requirements, it could help Republicans win key House and Senate seats as each party seeks a narrow path to a majority in either chamber.

Dems’ mail voting edge

For example, in Michigan, one of the toss-up U.S. Senate races that will determine control, more than 2 million voters cast mail ballots in 2024, according to the Fair Fight analysis. 

Nearly half came from Democrats, while Republicans sent 39%, a difference of about 200,000 votes in Democrats’ favor. That gap represents a smaller number of votes than the margin of victory for the winner of the state in the last three presidential elections.

In North Carolina, another state with a close U.S. Senate race in 2026, Democrats voting by mail outnumbered Republicans by about eight percentage points in 2024, though mail ballots accounted for only about 5% of all votes, according to the data.

In a Friday statement to States Newsroom, Fair Fight Action CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo blamed Trump for undermining trust in vote-by-mail and encouraged voters to view mail voting as a viable method.

“Trump is a desperate loser who has spent years lying to his supporters about mail voting ‘fraud’ – as a result many stopped using a method they once trusted,” she said. “Voting by mail is secure, convenient, and accessible. Whether voting by mail, early, or on Election Day, make your plan to vote now and see it through.”

In a statement, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis portrayed the rule on mail ballots as a “commonsense” election security measure.

“If securing America’s elections – through commonsense methods like voter ID and proof of citizenship – would make it harder for Democrats to win elections, perhaps they should reconsider the methods they’re using to ‘win,’” Bis wrote.

The Fair Fight analysis shows the partisan gap narrows in states with more mail-in voting.

In Arizona, where 83% of voters cast mail ballots in 2024, Republicans held a 5-point margin in mail voting, roughly the same as Trump’s 5.5-point victory in the state. And in Nevada, where 44% of ballots were cast by mail, the mail-in vote was almost evenly split among Democrat, Republican and “other” voters.

Mail voting history

Until 2020, mail voting enjoyed broad bipartisan support.

An April 2020 study published by Stanford University’s Institute for Economic Policy Research found that in the six Western states — Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Hawaii, Utah and California — that had started implementing a system of mailing ballots to every registered voter, the policy did not help either party while modestly boosting turnout.

“Vote-by-mail does not have meaningful partisan effects on election outcomes,” the authors wrote.

But as states ramped up mail voting in the 2020 election as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the issue turned more partisan, with Democrats more likely to stay away from in-person voting. 

Trump, then running for reelection, cast unfounded doubts on vote-by-mail’s integrity and warned of dire effects for Republicans.

“MAIL-IN VOTING WILL LEAD TO MASSIVE FRAUD AND ABUSE,” he tweeted in May 2020. “IT WILL ALSO LEAD TO THE END OF OUR GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY. WE CAN NEVER LET THIS TRAGEDY BEFALL OUR NATION.”

After several cycles of roughly equal rates of mail voting, Democratic mail voters nearly doubled Republicans, 60% to 32%, in 2020. The gap narrowed in 2024, with Democratic voters outpacing Republicans 37% to 24%.

Trump’s claims

While the Postal Service is now arguing in court its rule based on Trump’s March 31 executive order is not an election regulation but only includes “modest” technical specifications for mail, other statements by Trump show the purpose is directly tied to election administration. 

Trump’s order justified new regulations on mail ballots to maintain “public confidence in election outcomes” and “enhance election integrity.”

He previewed the effort in an August 2025 social media post saying he would “lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS” that again made the issue explicitly about partisan advantage.

“WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections,” he wrote. “Democrats are virtually Unelectable without using this completely disproven Mail-In SCAM. ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING.”

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether the rule can be in effect for this year’s midterms.

Industry conferences are gearing up for the fall season, and agendas are being released with the latest and greatest information for student transportation professionals who are heading back to work for the new school year.

The National Association for Pupil Transportation’s 49th Annual Conference and Trade Show, NAPT ACTS 2026, will take place Oct. 3–7, 2026, in Louisville, Kentucky. This year’s theme, “Building Leaders for the Route Ahead,” emphasizes leadership development, professional learning and stronger connections across the student transportation community.

The five-day program is designed for transportation directors, fleet and maintenance professionals, trainers, routers, safety specialists and other school transportation leaders. It includes more than 40 sessions and workshops, over 10 NAPT Professional Development Series courses, and four certification pathways. Topics cover operational safety, crisis communication, data-driven decision-making, strategic and facility planning, student behavior, transporting students with disabilities, workforce retention, preventive maintenance, regulatory compliance and transportation technology.

Specialized programming includes workshops for new directors and maintenance teams, a national transportation briefing, recertification sessions and a Transportation Directors Executive Forum.

The trade show takes place Oct. 5, where attendees can explore school transportation products, technology and services and connect directly with industry suppliers.

Networking is built throughout the event through a first timers’ breakfast, marketplace sessions, receptions, regional assemblies, social events and sponsor demonstrations. The keynote, “Achieving Rock Star Status in Your Profession,” will be delivered by drummer and leadership speaker Kenny Aronoff, drawing lessons from high-performance music environments about teamwork, communication, creativity and collaboration.

Nearly a month later, the Transporting Students with Disabilities and Special Needs Conference kicks off, hosting a Transportation Director Summit for the first time. Hosted by School Transportation News, the event will take place Nov. 4–10, 2026, in Frisco, Texas, and brings together school transportation and special-education professionals from across the country to improve the safety, accessibility and quality of transportation provided to students with disabilities and preschool-age children.

The conference is intended for transportation directors, fleet managers, driver trainers, school bus drivers, aides and monitors, special-education professionals, Head Start and childcare staff, superintendents, executives, manufacturers and industry suppliers. Its program combines educational sessions, hands-on training, product demonstrations and networking opportunities focused specifically on the operational and legal challenges of specialized student transportation.

Educational topics include individualized education and transportation plan development, funding amid the U.S. Department of Education moving IDEA to Health and Human Services, student-data protection, positive behavior support, transporting medically fragile students, wheelchair securement, school bus aide and monitor training, updated national specifications, and the use of artificial intelligence in transportation operations. The program also includes American Sign Language training, child-passenger safety instruction and sessions addressing accessibility and inclusive transportation practices.

A major component of the event is its specialized training. Attendees can participate in a national course on child-passenger safety aboard school buses, including hands-on practice with child safety restraint systems for preschoolers and students with disabilities. Other experiences include wheelchair-securement training, a special-needs transportation roadeo and workshops that allow participants to practice procedures rather than learning exclusively through classroom presentations.

New for 2026 is the two-day Transportation Director Summit, held Nov. 4–5. This limited-capacity program is designed for qualified transportation directors and fleet leaders and focuses on leadership, trust, innovation, peer problem-solving and collaboration with manufacturers and suppliers. Participants will take part in expert presentations, small-group discussions and structured networking before the main conference begins.

The TSD Trade Show will feature dozens of exhibitors presenting specialized buses, wheelchair and occupant-restraint equipment, safety systems, fleet software, video technology and other products developed for transporting students with additional needs. A trade-show reception provides attendees with an informal setting to meet suppliers, examine equipment and discuss potential solutions for their local operations.

Related: New Date Set for NHTSA Child Passenger Safety Training at TSD
Related: Update: Transfinder Sweeps 2026 STN EXPO West Innovation Choice Awards
Related: Illegal School Bus Passing Numbers Indicate Decrease, Still Too Many
Related: Ohio State Highway Patrol Urges Motorists to Prioritize School Bus Safety
Related: School Bus Driver Shortages Create Wider Consequences for Students

Later that week, the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services Annual Conference kicks off, Nov. 14-17 at The Ritz-Carlton, in Arlington, Virginia. The members-only event brings together state pupil transportation directors, state agency staff, transportation association leaders, federal officials, manufacturers, suppliers and other industry professionals.

The conference focuses on policy, regulation, safety and operational issues affecting school transportation at the state and national levels. Its location near Washington, D.C., gives attendees the opportunity to hear directly from federal transportation and safety partners. Invited agencies include the National Transportation Safety Board, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and Transportation Security Administration.

Educational sessions address training, transportation for students with special needs, school bus crash investigations and emerging trends in pupil transportation. State directors will also lead discussions about the most significant challenges facing school transportation programs, allowing attendees to compare policies, share practices and examine how different states are responding to common safety and operational concerns.

The event also includes keynote presentations, group meals and networking opportunities intended to strengthen collaboration among government agencies, state transportation leaders and private-sector partners. Unlike a traditional trade show, NASDPTS hosts a smaller Supplier Showcase and Networking Session, scheduled for Nov. 15. The tabletop format allows suppliers to present products, services and industry innovations while meeting directly with state directors and other transportation decision-makers.

Written with the assistance of AI.

The post As New School Year Starts, Fall Conference Agendas Announced appeared first on School Transportation News.

Washington, D.C. – The Trump administration has voluntarily dismissed its own appeal in a lawsuit challenging Donald Trump’s executive order banning wind project development in the United States. This effectively ends the unlawful, sweeping ban on wind power.   Attorneys General from 17 states and Washington, D.C. challenged this executive order last year. Public interest groups …

The post Donald Trump Retreats from Lawsuit Challenging Illegal Wind Ban appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Chairman Willis, Vice Chairman Daniels, Ranking Member Grim,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide written testimony in support of House Bill 773, which expands access to E15 gasoline to Ohioans and drivers across the country while traveling on the Ohio Turnpike. Growth Energy is the nation’s largest association of ethanol producers, representing 98 U.S. plants that each year produce more than 9.5 billion gallons of cleaner burning, renewable fuel, including five of Ohio’s seven biorefineries. We also represent groups such as the Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association, working with them and thousands of ethanol supporters across the country to bring better and more affordable choices at the pump, diversify our energy portfolio, create more energy jobs, and sustain family farms.

Today, 98 percent of all gasoline sold in the U.S. contains 10 percent bioethanol. E15, a lower cost fuel containing up to 15 percent bioethanol and approved for use in more than 96 percent of cars on the road today, is now available at more than 5,100 retail locations in 34 states. In Ohio, there are currently only 192 retail fuel locations selling E15; less than four percent of the state’s estimated 5,833 retail fuel locations offer E15. Compare this to Minnesota, with half of Ohio’s population, that has more than 500 retail locations offering E15.

That means, that while Ohio is among the top corn-growing and ethanol-producing states in the country, Ohioans do not have access to more affordable fuel options drivers in other Midwest states have, which is evident in the attached informational sheet recently shared with the U.S. House urging representatives to support pro-E15 legislation.

We applaud Representatives Williams and Klopfenstein for introducing HB 773, which would formally adopt a pro-E15 and pro-Ohio agriculture posture for rest stops and fuel retailers along Ohio’s Turnpike. This is especially important as Ohio corn farmers continue to face higher and higher input costs amid global trade uncertainty and lower commodity prices.

As Representative Williams said during the previous committee hearing, HB 773 “supports Ohio’s agricultural output without placing financial burdens on the state while also helping address the high fuel prices families across the Midwest continue to deal with.” Additionally, we agree with Representative Klopfenstein that the state can expand “access to E15 through one of Ohio’s most visible public-private partnerships: the Ohio Turnpike.”

HB 773 ensures the state of Ohio can do its part to support its agriculture community by promoting the expanded use of E15, a gasoline blend using a higher percentage of corn ethanol. We urge the committee to support this legislation as a means of supporting Ohio’s agriculture and ethanol industries, bolstering thousands of jobs and family farms across the state.

Given our experience with retailers around the country offering ethanol blends, we are happy to assist the committee with technical questions as it considers initiatives that help strengthen domestic demand for Ohio-raised corn and Ohio-made ethanol.

The post Growth Energy Written Testimony in Support of Ohio Turnpike E15 Access appeared first on Growth Energy.

January 28, 2025 – At a time when the administration claims the U.S. is facing a nationwide energy emergency and consumers are increasingly concerned about rising electricity costs, its efforts to stop five large offshore wind projects under construction along the Atlantic Coast could cost consumers billions of dollars and keep much-needed new electricity off …

The post Offshore wind stop-work orders are costing consumers, delaying needed electricity appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

By: Britt Burt, Senior VP of Research for the Power industry A new round of headlines has revived an old storyline about the United States “bringing coal back.” As an expert of nearly four decades, I can confidently say that this interpretation misses what is actually happening on the grid. Coal is not gaining ground …

The post The US Is Seeing Slower Coal Plant Retirements, But Don’t Mistake It for a Return to Coal appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Boston, MA – Last night, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts ruled that Donald Trump’s executive order banning wind projects in the United States was unlawful and vacated the order. Donald Trump issued an executive order on the first day of his administration that paused all leasing, permitting and approvals for wind projects, killing tens of …

The post Federal Judge Vacates Trump’s Unlawful Wind Energy Ban appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Stop-work orders for wind undercut investor confidence in financing all energy projects, including nuclear September 3, 2025 – The administration’s energy dominance agenda will fail, done in by collapsing investor confidence, unless the White House stops issuing stop-work orders for offshore wind. Undercutting these projects, each of which has billions of private investment dollars committed …

The post Anti-renewable policies are going to cost consumers appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

New heat-transfer system targets HVAC’s biggest inefficiencies, delivering up to 10x the performance without refrigerants, pumps, or significant energy input. When it comes to building a sustainable energy future, there are two sides to the equation: generation and demand. While most of the attention has been placed on producing more clean power, there’s an equally …

The post A New HVAC “Force” Cuts Energy, Boosts Efficiency appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Four New Nuclear Reactors and Forever Radioactive Waste in Calhoun County, Texas First Intervention Against SMRs in the U.S. LONG MOTT, Texas – This week, San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper (Waterkeeper) intervened to stop four proposed experimental nuclear power reactors targeted for Long Mott, Texas – a community in coastal Calhoun County – the first …

The post San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper Challenges  appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Washington, D.C. – According to reporting, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to rescind all $7 billion of Solar For All grants.   The Solar For All grant was passed into law as part of the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 to expand access to affordable and reliable solar energy to low-income regions across the country. 60 projects have been …

The post EPA Plans to Rescind Solar For All Funding appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

U.S. Domestic Solar Production Reaches Historic Milestone Washington, D.C. – The United States has surpassed 50 GW in domestic solar energy manufacturing capacity for the first time in history, enough to power approximately 37.5 million homes. This milestone marks an impressive progress—bolstered by clean energy investments in the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—by the renewable energy …

The post U.S. Domestic Solar Production Reaches Historic Milestone appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

Updated Western Solar Plan to guide responsible development in 11 Western states WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced an updated Western Solar Plan to help guide efficient and environmentally responsible solar energy permitting on public lands across the West. ?The plan will guide the siting of solar energy proposals in areas with fewer resource conflicts,  advance the nation’s growing clean energy economy, help lower energy costs …

The post Interior Department Finalizes Framework for Future of Solar Development on Public Lands appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

A new study on behalf of Milliken has identified the top U.S. states for sustainable energy production. The rapid rise of the sustainable energy sector worldwide has been one of the most important technological and economic stories of recent years. Continued urgency to mitigate the impact of climate change has spurred governments and companies to speed the transition …

The post States With the Most Businesses Focused on Sustainable Energy appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.

The international biofuels industry has found an unlikely ally in the waste management sector. A heightened global urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) is incentivizing renewable fuels production like never before, but the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently warned of an impending feedstock shortage for biodiesel, renewable diesel and biojet (aviation fuel) production, estimated …

The post Merging Net Zero With Zero Waste: One solution to biofuel feedstock shortage appeared first on Alternative Energy HQ.