Trump comes to Ohio on Saturday

Merrin likely to be side-by-side with the President at Midterm Rally in Montgomery County

Oct 02, 2026

President Donald Trump will be in Dayton Saturday to attend a midterm rally for U.S. Sen. Jon Husted and other Republican candidates in tight races, according to campaign planners.

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Former state Rep. Derek Merrin, a featured speaker at Trump’s Midterm Convention in Texas last month who is in a dead-heat race to unseat 9th District Rep. Marcy Kaptur, is expected to be with Trump. Merrin’s campaign did not respond to inquiries, however, about what his role at Saturday’s rally will be.

Trump, who won Ohio with 55% of the vote in 2024, will be at Vandalia-Butler High School in Vandalia, near Dayton in Montgomery County, with Husted, a Trump campaign PAC announced. The Student Activity Center at the school is one of the largest high school athletic and event venues in Southwest Ohio, with a seating capacity of 4,500.

Polling ahead

Trump’s edge—along with the Republican Party’s prospects heading into the November election—appears to be rapidly dissipating. Former U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is pulling ahead of Husted in all the major polls. Brown is 8 points up over Husted in the Marist poll (Sept. 24-27), and is up an average of three points across 10 national polls, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Internal polls from the 9th House District campaigns of former state Rep. Derek Merrin, the GOP nominee, and U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur, the incumbent Democrat first elected in 1982, show they are dead even (Kaptur’s polling) and Merrin 4 points ahead (Merrin’s poll), the NYT reported.

Kaptur’s campaign did not have any comment about Trump’s planned visit, or Merrin’s attendance.

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The president is set to hit more competitive territory on Saturday in Ohio, a state he won with 55% of the vote in the ‌2024 election but where Senator Jon Husted now faces a close re-election race. Trump will also rally on Monday in Nebraska, where Republicans are facing a challenging House race in Omaha and a Senate race that has shown signs in recent days of tightening.

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