National leaders crisscross the country at campaign crunch time

Niels Lesniewski, CQ-Roll Call on Oct 13, 2026

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It’s crunch time on the campaign trail, and the president, vice president, congressional leaders and no shortage of other surrogates are out in force, trying to rally supporters to get out the vote.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the New York Democrat likely to become speaker if his party wins the majority, campaigned in New Jersey, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania in recent days, with more stops ahead.

Reporters with Jeffries in New Hampshire on Monday evening asked whether he and the current Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., are in agreement on the midterm map, given the overlap in their October itineraries. Johnson is expected in New Hampshire this week.

“We haven’t had a conversation about his travel or my travel schedule, but I’m certainly committed to making sure that I show up and support extraordinary candidates like Stefany Shaheen in races that we know are going to determine whether we take back control or not,” Jeffries said. “This is one of those races.”

Shaheen, the daughter of retiring Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., is running for the open House seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, who is running for Senate.

Johnson is heading to Texas on Tuesday for a pair of events designed to boost four Republican candidates, including incumbent Rep. Monica De La Cruz in the 15th District, which Inside Elections lists as Tilt Republican.

The other three races to be featured at Johnson’s Texas events include the district where Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez are seeking reelection, as well as an open district vacated by Democratic Rep. Greg Casar’s decision to run in the redrawn 37th District.

Johnson has remained bullish on the majority, but also said he intends to serve as minority leader in the event the Democrats take control of the House.

“In the unlikely scenario where we lost the majority, I would expect my colleagues would ask me to continue leading this conference, even if we have divided government,” Johnson said in a CBS News interview released Monday.

Trump is GOP surrogate in chief

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance will continue to be the headline surrogates for the GOP this week.

“I’m asking everybody to pretend, just pretend that I’m on the ballot, because in a way I am on the ballot, because they will try to destroy everything we’ve done,” Trump said at a Monday campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio. Trump was stumping for Republican candidates including incumbent Sen. Jon Husted, who is facing a challenge from Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown.

That’s become a familiar refrain from the president, seeking to boost turnout among his supporters who may otherwise be less likely to vote in the midterms.

But it’s a message that Democrats across the country don’t seem disappointed to have effectively running on a loop. That includes Pappas in New Hampshire, running against Republican former Sen. John E. Sununu.

“The fact is, Donald Trump has said this: ‘Pretend I’m on the ballot.’” Pappas said Sunday in a CBS News interview. “He’s on the ballot through candidates like John Sununu, who will maintain his majority in the U.S. Senate, will make it harder for us to hold this administration to account, to address the culture of corruption in Washington and fight to lower costs for New Hampshire families.”

Trump is heading to Alaska on Tuesday before also holding rallies in Arizona, Georgia and Montana this week.

Vance was in Alaska last week, and the president’s visit reinforces the concern that Democratic former Rep. Mary Peltola has a chance of defeating incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan.

The races in Alaska, Ohio, Maine and New Hampshire are rated a Toss-up by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales.

Vance is in Texas Tuesday, Georgia on Wednesday and Michigan on Thursday.

Plenty of Democratic surrogates out and about, as well.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., will be campaigning for South Carolina Democrats on Tuesday, while Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., spent Monday with the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas. The Nevada governor’s race and the battle for the House headline the elections there this cycle.

Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., is heading to North Carolina to stump for former Gov. Roy Cooper, the Democratic Senate nominee.

The North Carolina Senate race has developed into the clearest Democratic pickup opportunity, given Cooper’s strength against Republican nominee Michael Whatley.

The seat, opened by the retirement of GOP Sen. Thom Tillis, is rated Lean Democratic by Inside Elections, and campaign spending has been moving away from the contest.

Senate Majority PAC, the outside spending group aligned with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., announced its intention to remove TV ads in the Tarheel State, while bolstering resources in places such as Kansas, Iowa and Ohio.