More than a dozen Republican senators are skipping the GOP convention next week, and the reasons why range from activities like lawn mowing and fly fishing to campaigning for themselves and reconnecting with constituents.
While the majority of senators will be attending the event in Cleveland, this year's convention is seeing an "unusually high"
number of defections, The Associated Press reported.
Some Republican senators had decided by April that they would skip the
GOP convention, according to Bloomberg. By then, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska were all planning to skip the convention to focus on their own campaigns.
“It’s not unusual for someone who’s up for re-election to be campaigning,” McCain told Bloomberg in April.
Three months later, McCain, who said he supports Trump, said he would be visiting the
Grand Canyon, The New York Times reported.
In an article posted on July 7,
The Hill surveyed all 54 Republican senators on their convention plans, and reported that 18 planned to skip, 32 were attending, and four were still on the fence about their decision.
Talking Points Memo, the AP, and the Times ran similar reports.
Here are 18 Republican senators who are reportedly skipping the convention, along with some of their reasons.
1. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama
2. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — Will be flying around Alaska on a Bush plane campaigning, according to the Times
3. Sen. John McCain of Arizona — Campaigning and visiting the Grand Canyon
4. Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona — "I’ve got to mow my lawn," The Hill quoted him as saying.
5. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida — Campaigning
6. Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho — Campaigning
7. Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois
8. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas — Will be on a listening tour in his state, the Times said.
9. Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi
10. Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri — Campaigning
11. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana — "I’ll have my fly rod in my hand with my wife in Montana," he said, according to The Hill.
12. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska — Sasse's spokesman told The Hill: "Sen. Sasse will not be attending the convention and will instead take his kids to watch some dumpster fires across the state, all of which enjoy more popularity than the current front-runners."
13. Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada — Will be reconnecting with constituents, according to the Times.
14. Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire
15. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
16. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — Will be reconnecting with constituents, according to the Times.
17. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin
18. Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.