Workers put the final touches on media booths a day before the start of the Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena on July 17, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio. | Getty Congress GOP lawmakers skip Cleveland for fly-fishing, farming and haircuts Other members of Congress are attending out of a sense of duty to the party rather than affection for Trump.

When the Republican National Convention convenes in Cleveland, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) jokes he’ll be getting his hair done. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) will be fly-fishing with his wife instead of joining the Donald Trump coronation. And Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) says conventions aren’t his thing, so he might use the coming week to irrigate his ranch.

A noticeably large number of Republicans from Capitol Hill won't be on hand in Cleveland as the convention kicks off Monday. Many of the no-shows are locked in competitive races and would rather use the time to campaign back home.


But the truants go beyond that group, lawmakers who are openly disgusted with their nominee-in-waiting. Others who’ll be there are making it clear that while they don’t yet back Trump, they want to be in Cleveland if only to support the rest of the Republican Party.

House insiders predict just under 200 Republicans from their 247-member conference will attend. Meanwhile, well over a dozen Senate Republicans are saying “no, thanks” to the Cleveland festivities, which get underway just after Congress left Washington for a seven-week summer recess.

ALL-IN FOR TRUMP — OR AT LEAST THE GOP

The mood won’t be so dour among Hill Republicans who’ve been eager to boost Trump and the GOP.

Upbeat from polls showing a competitive battle for the White House, these GOP officials believe now is the time the fractured party needs to unite after a bruising primary campaign. One is Sen. David Perdue of Georgia, a first-term senator who, like Trump, is a successful businessman and a newcomer to politics.

“I’ve never been to one,” Perdue said. “I tell you, I’m going into it excited. I hear all the noise and things like that, but you know, democracy’s working right now.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is a delegate, and he cheerfully said, “I’ll be down at the scrum.” And Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) is looking forward to at least one big part of the convention: She’ll be one of the speakers representing the Senate GOP.

Other Senate Republicans delivering remarks include Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Ted Cruz of Texas and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

“I’m going to talk about energy, the economy, and I’m going to talk about how I think Republicans have better ideas and we can’t take four more years of what we’ve seen over the last eight,” Capito said.

Others are stoked to show off their home state. Rep. Steve Stivers, who hails from the Columbus area just two hours southwest of the host city, said “it will be fun to see a lot of Republicans in Cleveland.”

But the winner of the “Most Enthusiastic” award almost surely is Rep. Rob Woodall of Georgia.

“The place we’re gonna pick the next leader of the free world?” Woodall responded when asked whether he'll be at the convention. “Heck yeah, I’m going!”

DUTY CALLS …

Other Republicans are going because they pretty much have to.

Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is presiding over the convention. McConnell will gavel in the nominating process for the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana.

Other GOP senators have key roles in Cleveland. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the fourth-ranking Senate Republican, leads the committee charged with drafting the party’s platform, and Utah's Mike Lee — the conservative stalwart who has refused to endorse Trump — chairs the convention Rules Committee.

Some Trump critics are attending, but not because they like him. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois said he'll be there to support the Republican Party writ large.

“My intention is to try to [support him] at some point,” Kinzinger said. “But look, this is the RNC. It’s not all just about the next president. So we’ll come together to talk about national security, for example.”

Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine moderate who’s also made clear she does not support Trump at this point, echoed Kinzinger’s message.

“What seems to have been overlooked this year is the convention is more than just the top of the ticket,” said Collins, who will likewise be in Cleveland. “It’s about boosting our party from the top of the ticket to the state legislators.”

Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Mark Meadows of North Carolina, two leaders of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, are attending despite clear reservations about Trump’s conservative bona fides.

THE NO-SHOWS

A slew of Republicans engaged in tough reelections during the year of Trump are staying far away from Cleveland, figuring their time is better spent shaking hands with voters than hobnobbing with party insiders in Ohio.

Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Marco Rubio of Florida, Roy Blunt of Missouri, John McCain of Arizona, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania will all be home campaigning. The handful of in-cycle Republicans who’ll attend, such as Richard Burr of North Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, are quickly parachuting into Cleveland and spending all their time there with their state delegations.

“It’s just good for me to stay in Illinois,” said Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, the most vulnerable Senate Republican, who dramatically revoked his endorsement of Trump earlier this year.

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said he would stay home and campaign even though his race isn't competitive. Even before a reporter could utter the T-word, Crapo quickly clarified: “It hasn’t had anything to do with Trump or anything.”

Centrist Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania, an outspoken Trump critic, said he would have attended had there been a chance that anti-Trump delegates would be able to force a contested convention. But since that’s not happening, “I don’t plan on going,” Dent said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has no interest in going, seeing as he does not support Trump. And Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who has repeatedly said he would rather mow his lawn, is in the same camp.

“We’re not superdelegates or anything,” Flake said of senators. “I’ve been to the others, but anyway, it’s not something that’s required. And I’ve said, I have no interest in seeing a Trump coronation.”

I’VE GOT BETTER THINGS TO DO — SERIOUSLY

Aside from mock hair appointments or ensuring lawns remain impeccably manicured, other Republican lawmakers who aren’t in competitive reelection races say they simply have better things to do with their time than be in Cleveland.

Heller has never attended a convention, so the Trump critic’s absence at the RNC this year isn’t that notable. He travels around the state, hitting the major population centers of Las Vegas and Reno, and irrigating his ranch.

The Trump factor “doesn’t make any difference to me,” Heller said. “In fact, my constituents would rather see me at home than in Cleveland, Ohio. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

Florida Rep. Dennis Ross said he's skipping because he just doesn’t see the point.

“I’ve done this since 1996,” he said. “There’s just no reason for me to go this time.”

In multiple questions about why he is skipping the convention and whether it is because of Trump, Daines had the same answer each time: “It’s a good time to be fishing in Montana.”

And then there are others who aren’t going, if only for no other reason than they weren’t asked.

Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming said he has attended four conventions — never for more than two days. He participated in past confabs primarily in a supporting role, such as supplying hot meals for the Wyoming delegation.

But this time, Enzi hasn’t been asked — and he doesn’t seem to mind. Instead, he’ll spend the time driving throughout Wyoming, armed with a travel rod so he can stop and fish whenever he wants.

“That’s my real passion,” Enzi said. “Usually what interrupts me is a constituent saying, ‘Oh, I just have this one little problem.’”