Historic GOP Wipeout. Republican Strongholds Fall. Guess Who Doesn’t Have to Pretend to Like Barbecue Anymore? Blame Heaped on Trump. Will Dems Misinterpret Win? More
Yesterday we lived in one world. Today we live in a very different one. Here are some descriptions of what happened:
Massacre. Armageddon. Historic Defeat for Trump, Republicans. And my personal favorite: “From the river to the sea. Blue tsunami reckoning.“
Last night was a wholesale Democratic rout of the GOP. “Trump told voters, ‘Pretend I’m on the ballot.’ They did” is the headline on a Washington Post report that calls the Democrats’ sweep of both houses of Congress “by some measures the worst since the post-Watergate election of 1974.”
The latest tally, which might be subject to change, is devastating for Republicans. Democrats will have 54 Senate seats to the GOP’s 42. They will have 223 House seats compared to the Republicans’ 131. The Squad is receiving new members, who might be further to the left. Fox Digital introduces the new DSA members coming to Congress.
Republican strongholds went to the Democrats. James Talarico defeated Texas AG Ken Paxton to become the first U.S. Senator from Texas since 1988. Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith lost to Democrat challenger Scott Colom, but at least this one was close. Senator Roger Marshall lost Kansas to first-time candidate Adam Hamilton; Kansas hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1932. South Carolina Senator Darline Graham lost her brother’s, the late Senator Lindsey Graham, seat to Democrat Amy Adams.
Maine Senator Susan Collins isn’t in a red state, but she’s always managed to eke out a win. Last night her luck ran out:
Democrat Troy Jackson defeated longtime Sen. Susan Collins Tuesday in Maine’s midterm Senate election, ending the incumbent’s nearly 30-year-long run in the upper chamber.
Jackson garnered 52.7% of the vote, compared to Collins’ 47.2%, with about two-thirds of the ballots tallied.
It’s a remarkable turnaround for Jackson, the third-place finisher in the Maine Democratic primary for governor, who was swapped in at the last minute after the campaign imploded for the original Senate nominee, Graham Platner.
Collins, 73, will leave Congress as the longest-serving female Republican senator in history.
The most watched race was Michigan’s Senate race. Despite allegations of Muslim Brotherhood connections, progressive Abdul El-Sayed defeated Mike Rogers by a handsome margin. El-Sayed, who will be the Senate’s first Muslim member, used Arabic phrases to mock President Trump in his acceptance speech. “I’ve answered all the questions that I care to answer,” El-Sayed, famously argumentative with reporters, said.
Minnesota Senate candidate Michelle Tafoya’s candidacy excited many Republicans, but she nevertheless lost to Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, whom the Free Beacon describes as Governor Tim Walz’s “Wingwoman.” In addition to the GOP’s congressional losses, Texas Governor Greg Abbot lost his job. The Dems also flipped Ohio’s governorship, as Vivek Ramasamy went down in defeat.
“The Trump Reckoning Arrives,” a merciless Wall Street Journal editorial proclaims. The editors write that President Trump’s “2024 coalition rebukes his second-term priorities and performance.” They write:
Republicans may console themselves that midterm defeats in second presidential terms are common. But this was more than a normal defeat. …
Mr. Trump is directly responsible for at least three Senate defeats: Mr. Paxton when he could have endorsed Mr. Cornyn instead; North Carolina, where he drove Sen. Thom Tillis from running for re-election; and Darline Graham, whom he pressed to run to replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham, despite her lack of political experience or policy knowledge.
More broadly, the President’s erratic and self-indulgent second-term governance has alienated much of the coalition he assembled in 2024. He won a second term on the promise to repeat the economic success of his first. But this time he insisted on imposing universal tariffs, often willy-nilly, that have raised prices for many goods and been especially damaging in Iowa, Kansas and the Farm Belt. His senseless trade war with Canada hurt Republicans in Michigan, Maine, even Texas. …
Voters also rebelled against Mr. Trump’s seeming preoccupation with his pet personal causes—the ballroom, the arch—and how he and his family have grown richer during the second term. No less than 88% of voters mentioned “corruption” as their top concern in an October Fox News poll, a higher percentage than the 85% who said inflation.
Democrats linked costs and corruption in their ads to damaging effect. Even if the link isn’t fair or true, it played to the frustration of voters that the President’s family is doing well while they are not. The charge of corruption is likely to haunt Mr. Trump across the next two years, as Democrats in Congress investigate the deals and details.
The Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson blames President Trump for what he calls the nationwide collapse of the Republican Party. Davidson specifically blames the Iran war, which Davidson sees as “a historic betrayal.”
New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin writes that how President Trump reacts to this “shellacking will determine his place in history.” Goodwin writes:
Still, tomorrow begins a new challenge for Trump and his beaten-down White House. It would certainly help if he ate some crow in public and took full responsibility for the outcome.
He could do worse than quote the Bob Dylan lyrics, “I threw it all away.”
Not that he will because he specializes in excess, and deems it a badge of manly pride to thumb his nose at tradition.
But even he has to signal to the American public that he still intends to serve their interest.
Most brutal: Matthew Hennesey’s “Revenge of the Nerds,” which contains the breathtaking line “Live by the ego maniac, die by the ego maniac.” President Trump has said that he will accept the results. Christopher Rufo writes that “reprisals are coming” because now that the midterms are over, “Democrats will seek revenge.” MS NOW is even more blunt: “‘Lawyer up’: A new Democratic majority prepares for a slate of Trump investigations.”
There’s no denying that the Democrats had a historic win last night. What will they do with it? “Will Democrats Misread Their Victory?” a Wall Street Journal editorial demands:
The first essential lesson is that voters are handing Democrats power because they wanted to rebuke President Trump. They think he failed to deliver on his promise to lower prices, and they don’t like his excesses on the rule of law, tariffs, mass deportation, and crony cashing in.
The political danger is that Democrats won’t be able to control themselves. They didn’t in Mr. Trump’s first term, and it cost them politically. One key test will be whether they can resist the calls to impeach him again. Nancy Pelosi didn’t, and her efforts merely solidified the President’s Republican support. Unless Democrats uncover something serious enough to get Republican Senators to convict after a House impeachment, they would be wise to settle for oversight and informing the voters.
Legislatively the next two years will feature the frustrations of divided government. Unfortunately for the country, given the $40 trillion debt and last year’s $2 trillion deficit, Congress typically papers over disagreements by spending even more.
Did Democrats learn a lesson from Mr. Biden’s spending binge, which fueled the inflation that cost him re-election? As workers worry about energy prices, will the party go straight back to climate mandates and subsidies for expensive electric cars?
Up All Nacht. Meanwhile, Jason Riley writes that with the results of the midterm, President Trump is a lame duck and “his long good-bye” begins. But Riley’s most chilling observation is not about President Trump:
If progressive candidates like Mr. El-Sayed are successful Tuesday, it’s an indication that Jew-hatred plays not only in liberal precincts like Zohran Mamdani’s New York but also in the swing states of the Midwest. If that’s the case, expect to see more Abdul El-Sayeds running for office. That might keep some Democrats up at night.
Slated for Reeducation Camp. The Babylon Bee is spot on about what led to this sea change in American politics: “Idiot King Forgets to Cancel Election“:
Washington, D.C. –Boy has King Trump got egg on his face this time. Seeing all of the people going to vote, he realized he forgot to cancel the election. What an idiot!
“Kings aren’t supposed to have elections. Doesn’t he know that? What a dummy,” said one peasant. “Well, time to vote against his interests, because he’s so dumb.”
“Why am I so stupid? Don’t answer that!” said King Trump.
