\n The Republican Party held the opening night of its first midterm convention in Dallas on September 9, 2026. <\/p>\n
Republican figures gathered in Dallas for the party\u2019s first midterm convention sounded off on the Iran war, socialism, Islam, affordability, and the future of the GOP as Republicans look to mobilize voters ahead of November.<\/p>\n
During separate interviews<\/a> with The Dallas Express, former Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback, Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell, and Texas State Board of Education member Brandon Hall (R-District 11) offered their perspectives on the issues they believe Republicans should emphasize during the midterms.<\/p>\n The Republican Party held<\/a> its first midterm convention at American Airlines Center in Dallas on September 9 and 10. Organizers said<\/a> the event was intended to highlight President Donald Trump\u2019s record, showcase Republican candidates, and unite the party ahead of the midterm elections.<\/p>\n Fishback breaks with Trump on Iran<\/p>\n Fishback said Republicans should use the convention to address economic concerns facing Americans.<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope is that we will talk about the issues that Americans are staying up at night every day, worrying about how can they afford gas, how can they afford their mortgage, is their job going to be there in a year, whether because of AI or arrogant immigration or whatever the case may be,\u201d Fishback told The Dallas Express.<\/p>\n Fishback, who unsuccessfully sought<\/a> the Republican nomination for Florida governor this year, said he has disagreements with the Republican Party but still considers its platform superior.<\/p>\n \u201cI have my disagreements with the Republican Party at times. That\u2019s okay. I still think it\u2019s the far superior platform and policy set for America, and I\u2019m going to be supporting good Republicans up and down the ticket that are standing for America first,\u201d Fishback said.<\/p>\n Fishback also broke with Trump over the ongoing war with Iran<\/a>, an issue that loomed over the convention as Republicans prepared for November.<\/p>\n \u201cI support what President Trump has historically done in the Middle East, which is peace through strength. I certainly don\u2019t agree with him on this particular conflict,\u201d Fishback said.<\/p>\n Fishback called for the war to end, arguing that doing so would bring American troops home and lower gas prices.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I want, I think, for Republicans and Democrats is this war to come to an end,\u201d Fishback said. \u201cI think that\u2019s not just good for the party going into the midterms, but also good for the country.\u201d<\/p>\n Fishback warns young voters against socialism<\/p>\n Fishback also urged Republicans to focus on affordability, homeownership, and employment.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re serious about protecting your job, stand up to H-1B companies that are importing cheap foreign labor and taking away jobs because if you lose your job, quite literally everything is unaffordable,\u201d Fishback said.<\/p>\n Asked what message he had for young Republicans, Fishback warned against embracing democratic socialist candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t be tempted by the lies and the false promises of the democratic socialists,\u201d Fishback said. \u201cA rose by any other name is just as sweet, and a communism by any other name is just as wicked.\u201d<\/p>\n Fishback additionally called for eliminating what he characterized as foreign and foreign-aligned money from American politics.<\/p>\n \u201cGet all foreign money out of American politics, whether it\u2019s AIPAC, CAIR, India, or Sweden\u2019s version of AIPAC,\u201d Fishback said.<\/p>\n He called AIPAC \u201cthe most visible and maybe the most pernicious example.\u201d<\/p>\n AIPAC, formally the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, says<\/a> it is an American organization funded exclusively by Americans. Its political action committee is registered<\/a> with the Federal Election Commission. Federal law prohibits<\/a> foreign nationals from making contributions, donations, expenditures, or disbursements in connection with federal, state, or local elections.<\/p>\n Sewell calls Trump a \u2018tourniquet\u2019<\/p>\n Sewell, a Detroit pastor who delivered<\/a> a benediction at Trump\u2019s second inauguration, described the president in explicitly religious terms.<\/p>\n \u201cOur president has been the tourniquet to stop the bleeding from America spiritually,\u201d Sewell told The Dallas Express.<\/p>\n Sewell pointed to what he described as the \u201cIslamification\u201d of the United States as an issue Christians and elected officials should confront.<\/p>\n \u201cLook at the Islamification of our country. This is a time in which people are calling good evil and evil good,\u201d Sewell said.<\/p>\n Asked how pastors and elected officials should respond, Sewell said voting should be the first step.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best thing that we can do is number one, vote,\u201d Sewell said.<\/p>\n Sewell then made broader claims about Islam and assimilation.<\/p>\n \u201cIslam is not looking to assimilate. Islam is looking to conquer. It is not a religion. It is a political movement that looks to conquer,\u201d Sewell claimed.<\/p>\n The remarks represent Sewell\u2019s characterization of Islam and do not establish the motivations or beliefs of Muslim Americans broadly.<\/p>\n Sewell also said Trump recently personally encouraged him to mobilize Christian voters.<\/p>\n \u201cHe said, \u2018Pastor Lorenzo, I need the pastors. Christians do not vote during midterms. About 65% of Christians do not vote,\u2019\u201d Sewell recalled.<\/p>\n A similarly worded figure published<\/a> by My Faith Votes, a Christian voter-mobilization organization, says more than 65 million Christians skip local elections. It does not say that 65% of Christians skip midterm elections.<\/p>\n Sewell additionally reflected on the assassination<\/a> of conservative activist Charlie Kirk ahead of the first anniversary of his death.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re a patriot, you need to say enough is enough,\u201d Sewell said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to say enough is enough. We\u2019ve lost our nation,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m going to get out of the boat and I will vote in 55 days.\u201d<\/p>\n Hall calls for GOP to confront \u2018Islamic invasion\u2019<\/p>\n Hall, who represents District 11<\/a> on the Texas State Board of Education, similarly argued that Republicans should make concerns surrounding Islam a significant part of their midterm messaging.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a ton at stake for our country in this midterm election,\u201d Hall told The Dallas Express. \u201cThere\u2019s never been a more important election, and there\u2019s never been a more big difference between the two parties.\u201d<\/p>\n Hall acknowledged that he believes Republicans are facing a difficult political environment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re in a tough midterm cycle. I think if the election were to be today, I mean, I don\u2019t like our chances, and the party hasn\u2019t found an issue that really animates our voters,\u201d Hall said.<\/p>\n Hall said he believes Republicans should focus more heavily on what he characterized as the \u201cIslamic invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think that issue is fighting against the Islamic invasion,\u201d Hall said. \u201cIt\u2019s very important to our people, and so I think the party should do more messaging around that.\u201d<\/p>\n Hall specifically referenced Democratic New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a>, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar<\/a> (D-Minnesota), and Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to say they\u2019re the party of the anti-American, you know, America-hating Muslims, and we\u2019re the party that\u2019ll save this country,\u201d Hall said.<\/p>\n Hall\u2019s comments represent his characterization of the Democratic Party and the Muslim political figures he referenced, rather than a characterization by The Dallas Express of Muslim Americans generally.<\/p>\n Despite emphasizing different issues, Fishback, Sewell, and Hall each stressed the importance of mobilizing Republican voters ahead of November.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that we can make our message crystal clear and motivate our voters,\u201d Hall said, \u201cbecause the future of our country literally depends on it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Republican Party held the opening night of its first midterm convention in Dallas on September 9, 2026.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[101323,76575,17782,30486,102,104,103,145,59840,74718,11672,150778,150779,143296,55473,11259],"class_list":["post-434291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-abdul-el-sayed","tag-aipac","tag-brandon-hall","tag-cair","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-donald-trump","tag-ilhan-omar","tag-iran-war","tag-islam","tag-james-fishback","tag-lorenzo-sewell","tag-republican-midterm-convention","tag-socialism","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}