Most voters probably know that the nation’s major political parties gather every four years for a major national convention, at which they formally nominate their respective presidential tickets. The quadrennial events also offer the parties an opportunity to put their best foot forward while they have the national spotlight.

But there’s been some talk in recent months about something more unusual: a midterm convention.

Axios reported in September that Democratic officials were exploring the possibility of a large-scale 2026 convention, and Donald Trump announced online soon after that he was “thinking of recommending” the same idea. (House Speaker Mike Johnson said the president called him to discuss the idea, and he told Trump, “That’s genius.” Of course, given the nature of their relationship, if Trump called him and mumbled gibberish in a made-up language, Johnson would probably say that’s “genius,” too.)

As the process moved forward, the Democratic National Committee ultimately decided not to bother with such a gathering. But the Republican National Committee did approve a plan for a midterm convention, and as The New York Times reported, party officials are close to settling on a host city:

President Trump and the Republican National Committee are strongly considering Dallas as the site of an unusual midterm convention later this year, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions. Republicans are working to finalize the plan as they seek to rally their voters in the face of political headwinds.

Some details must still be finalized, including the exact dates, and officials said formal paperwork still needed to be signed. But Trump advisers who are looking to parade their candidates and rally the base are close to settling on Dallas over other options, which had included Las Vegas, according to the people, who were granted anonymity to share private planning information.

According to the Times’ account, which has not been independently verified by MS NOW, the party is targeting a date after Labor Day “to try to maximize early-voting momentum.”

The developments aren’t too surprising — the House speaker said earlier this month that he “can’t wait for the midterm convention that we’re going to have” — though they are unusual. The DNC held midterm conventions in the 1970s and ’80s, before giving up on the practice ahead of the 1986 cycle. (That decision didn’t hurt the party: Democrats gained five U.S. House seats and eight U.S. Senate seats that year.)

Whether Republican officials appreciate it or not, there are two main problems they should probably consider sooner rather than later. The first is that holding a convention is extremely expensive. Indeed, when Democrats abandoned their midterm conventions several decades ago, it was largely because they simply saw better uses for limited financial resources.

But there’s another dimension to this that’s just as important: One of the underlying points of a national convention is nationalizing an election cycle — and given how very unpopular the incumbent Republican president is, the party should be going out of its way to localize the midterms.

Indeed, it’s likely that Democrats are looking forward to the RNC hosting a 2026 convention, since it will give the minority party an opportunity to do what it wants to do anyway: connect Republican candidates and officeholders to Trump.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

The post The two key problems with the Republicans’ plan for a midterm convention appeared first on MS NOW.

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