The following is the transcript of the interview with Sunoco chairman Ray Washburne, Republican midterm election chair, that aired on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan" on Sept. 6, 2026. MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Ray Washburn, co-chair of the GOP midterm convention that is happening later this week in Dallas. He's also chairman of gasoline distributor Sunoco and a real estate investor.
Washburn, good morning to you. RAY WASHBURNE: Good morning, Margaret. Thank you for having me on.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So there's a lot of talk about what is the first ever Republican midterm convention. I'm seeing reports here that lawmakers are being asked to pay $25,000 to attend. Do lawmakers have to pay to attend and participate?
RAY WASHBURNE: You know, the whole attendance and selling the packages is all an RNC thing. I'm chairman of the host committee that's putting the convention on, so I'm not sure exactly in all the different packages they have. But what I do know is we have 20,000 people attending all 50 states, every territory, and people have started arriving this weekend.
And there's a high degree of energy here in Dallas for the convention, so we're very excited. Well, the timing I know for some candidates it's kind of tough to leave their tight races in certain districts. Do you know how many lawmakers are attending and what the money being raised will do for those who attend?
Well, obviously, with it's going to be a great networking thing for the candidates to come down. There are going to be a lot of donors here and high-profile people, not only in the administration but in the donor community. So their events stacked every single day.
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