Trump embarks on Texas campaign swing to shore up votes for lagging ally

US midterms briefing: Trump's campaign swing and Democrats' Texas worries Hello! We're just one week out from the US midterm elections, so to help keep you up to speed, we're launching a daily briefing! I'll be with you each weekday morning to bring you the latest from overnight, as well as some insights from our talented team over in the States. Click here to see how popular Trump is today, and click here for a quick breakdown on what the midterms are all about. Here's what you need to know today - Trump's Texas blitz: US President Donald Trump is hitting two rally stops in Corpus Christi and Lubbock, Texas, in support of Republican US Senate candidate Ken Paxton. He's set to use the campaign swing to announce a plan to ease methane rules for oil and gas producers. That's part of an effort to show voters he's working to bring down petrol prices. This isn't the first step he has taken on the matter, either. Earlier this month, he struck a deal for the US to buy diesel from Russia. He also signed an executive order to let tax-free, red-dyed off-road diesel be used on public roads, though he told a rally he wasn't sure what that meant. - Texas Democrats biting nails: Democrats hope James Talarico will be the first party candidate to be elected to the Senate in Texas in more than three decades. And while polling suggests Talarico has a narrow lead over Paxton, some party insiders worry Talarico hasn't done enough to turn out Black voters, according to a report by The Washington Sun. "The question is not whether Talarico gets the majority of the Black vote because Talarico is going to get the majority of Black votes," Democratic state representative Jolanda Jones told the Sun. "The question is how many Black people are going to show up to vote." - Election interference preparations: State and local election officials across the US are planning how to react to a range of potential interference attempts, the New York Times is reporting. Scenarios include potential Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, overreach by federal monitors, and ballot theft. This all stems from concerns that Trump may try to dispute midterm results, with the president still falsely claiming he won the 2020 presidential election. Here's what that all means Midterms are generally seen as a report card for the president because they give voters a chance to express their feelings. What are the big issues this campaign? Rising prices and living costs are the top voter concerns in most polls. There are several Trump actions tied up in those issues: the war with Iran, tariffs, and his repeated insistence that "affordability" is either a hoax issue or one to blame on Joe Biden. Corruption is also breaking through as a big one — a Fox News poll recently found more voters were concerned about corruption (60 per cent) than inflation (58 per cent). Trump isn't very popular at the moment. So how have Republicans responded in their own campaigning? Some Republicans in close races are keeping their distance or even speaking out against Trump policies. For example, senate candidates like Susan Collins (Maine) and Mike Rogers (Michigan) have criticised the tariffs on Canada (which their states border) and called for an end to the Iran war. There's even a Republican congresswoman in a Latino-heavy part of Florida appearing in TV ads telling Trump his immigration crackdown has gone too far. But Trump is notoriously revengeful, so there aren't many Republicans willing to go up against him too forcefully. If you'd like to read more from Brad, he recently took a closer look at these issues in the Maine race. How popular is Donald Trump today? US President Donald Trump might not be up for election at the midterms, but his popularity will have a strong influence over the outcome. The president's party almost always loses House seats in midterm elections and that trend gets steeper when the president is unpopular. Historic polling data collated by analytics firm Gallup shows presidents with approval ratings below 50 per cent have seen their party lose an average of 37 House seats. Presidents with approval ratings above 50 per cent have netted smaller loses, with an average of 14 seats. Click here to go back to the top. Your crash course on the midterms LoadingClick here to go back to the top. And here's how to stay up to date You can keep track of the latest out of the US here. Thanks for joining me! I'll be back same time tomorrow with more.