Republicans are grappling with election losses after expecting to easily gain control of the House and possibly flip the Senate. The party’s messaging leading up to Election Day centered around rising inflation, unfounded claims that there was massive fraud in the 2020 presidential election and President Joe Biden‘s poor job approval ratings.
Several candidates endorsed by Donald Trump lost on Tuesday, prompting a lot of finger-pointing. The election results have stirred division within the party as it looks toward potential 2024 presidential candidates.
Trump-endorsed candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz ran opposite Lt. Gov John Fetterman for a Pennsylvania Senate seat, and lost by over four points. The state’s gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, another Trump-backed candidate and 2020 election denier, lost to Josh Shapiro but has yet to concede the race.
In Nevada, Adam Laxalt, former co-chair of Trump’s campaign who filed lawsuits seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election, lost by less than a point to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto. The race provided Democrats with the tie-breaking 50th seat in the senate.
A runoff election in Georgia scheduled for Dec. 6 could bump Democrats up to 51 seats.
Tudor Dixon, a Trump-endorsed candidate who was vying for governor of Michigan, conceded after losing by 10.6% to Democrat Gretchen Whitmer. Whitmer had previously refused to commit to accepting the results of her race. Trump’s gubernatorial pick for the neighboring state Wisconsin, Tim Michels, also conceded. Michels had claimed that Republicans would “never lose another election” if he were elected governor.
Smaller races also proved unsuccessful for Trump-endorsed Republicans, several of which were running for positions that would put them in charge of state election processes.
Trump held a fundraiser in Mar-a-Lago earlier this year for Matthew DePerno, Michigan attorney general candidate, who lost to Dana Nessel by 8.7 points.
Nevada Secretary of State nominee Jim Marchant has yet to concede to Democrat Cisco Aguilar. Marchant has maintained the narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump.
Trump’s choice for Arizona Secretary of State, Mark Finchem, also proved disappointing, as he lost by over 5 points to Democrat Adrian Fontes. Finchem had called for an overhaul of Arizona’s voting process and has been tied to the Oath Keepers militia, a group present at the Jan. 6 capitol attacks.
The midterms seemed unusual due to Trump’s shadow looming large. He frequently gave hints that he would run for president in 2024 despite losing the popular vote in consecutive elections
Usually, the party in power experiences significant suffers defeat during the midterm elections. But Republicans didn’t receive strong financial backing, Biden’s approval ratings were slightly better than Trump’s in 2018 and there was a strong number of Gen Z voters who went to the polls for Democrats.
Independents are also crucial to swinging midterm races. According to exit polls from Edison Research, independent voters were largely split this year with 49% voting for Democratic House candidates, compared to 47% for Republicans.
An NBC News poll showed that 32% of voters said their vote was “to oppose Joe Biden,” but 28% said their vote was “to oppose Donald Trump.” With Trump not in the White House but still very visible on the 24-hour news channels, the midterms seemed to be a rematch of “Biden vs. Trump.” In 2020, Biden had 7 million more votes than Trump.
It wasn’t all bad news for Republicans. Some Trump-backed politicians won their races, including J.D. Vance in Ohio, Sen. Chuck Grassley in Iowa, Sen. Marco Rubio in Florida and Sen. Ron Johnson in Wisconsin. Republicans also still have a chance to gain control of the House.
Trump has attempted to advertise winning candidates and distance himself from losing candidates following election results. In the Pennsylvania Senate race, Trump had shifted blame in the decision to endorse Mehmet Oz over to his wife Melania.
According to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, Trump described Melania’s decision to push him to back Oz’s bid as “not her best decision.” Trump later denied the tweet, apologizing to Melania and Oz on social-media app Parlor.
In an interview Tuesday with NewsNation, Donald Trump said of Republican candidates: “If they win I should get all the credit. If they lose I should not be blamed at all.”
Despite Trump’s hopes, many within the party are blaming his endorsements of poor candidates for the surprising losses this election cycle, which have cost Republicans a majority in the Senate and sowed discord within the party.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may be the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. DeSantis swept in his election by almost 19 points and at age 44 could inject some youth into the presidential elections after the last three nominees were among the oldest in presidential history.
GOP mega-donor Ken Griffin commented on Trump’s recent actions in an interview with Politico.
“He did a lot of things really well and missed the mark on some important areas,” Griffin said. “And for a litany of reasons, I think it’s time to move on to the next generation.”
Griffin said he will support DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Trump is expected to announce his candidacy for the 2024 presidential race on Tuesday.
Haberman tweeted on Saturday that “There is a renewed discussion among some Trump allies about trying to get him not to announce” ahead of the Georgia runoff election.
Before Election Day, former George W. Bush strategist Karl Rove boasted of many of the Republican candidates and called out Trump.
“Every candidate is doing polls and every candidate is realizing that in their state or district they are likely to be more popular than Donald Trump,” he said.
“Put it another way, Donald Trump is an anchor weighing them down. He looms over this, no ifs or buts.”
