Thune Campaigns in Iowa to Defend Senate Majority as Trump Rallies in Michigan Before Midterms

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, campaigned in Sioux City, Iowa, last Friday with Rep. Ashley Hinson, one week before the midterm elections, as part of a final push to keep the Republican Senate majority. The two held a roundtable with six local business owners at a strip-mall bar and grill, a day after President Trump held a rally in an airplane hangar nearby. Asked how she balances Trump's demands for loyalty with his increasingly unpopular policies, Hinson said she would back him when she agreed and push back when she did not. Thune said he would not be offended if some Republicans preferred not to campaign with him. He has drawn criticism from the party's base and from Trump over the Senate's failure to pass voter legislation, and voters have voiced concern about the Iran war and gas prices. Trump also rallied in Port Huron, Michigan, where nearly 20 voters interviewed said they would stick with Republicans despite high fuel and grocery prices. Trump's approval stood at 36% in the latest Fox News national poll, his lowest ever in that survey. Republicans hold slim House and Senate majorities and face the historical pattern of the president's party losing seats.

Left-leaning CBS News leads with Thune himself, framing the week as the clearest test of his nearly two-year effort to advance Trump's agenda while preserving Senate independence. It features the Sioux City roundtable and Hinson's answer, and does not center voter interviews. Right-leaning Fox News leads with Trump supporters in Michigan, headlining that prices and the war will not stop MAGA voters, and quoting Carol Mocan and others who call Democrats socialists. Both acknowledge Trump's weak standing, inflation, the Iran war and the midterm history. CBS focuses on tension between Republican leaders and the president, while Fox focuses on base loyalty. AP's Thune story, closer to CBS, adds voter concern over the war and gas prices.