Election night bloodbath sends warning to GOP for midterms

The Republicans lost every major contest in Tuesday night’s elections in what appears to be a clear indicator of voter dissatisfaction with their governance since President Donald Trump took office.

Democrats made a clean sweep of Virginia’s statewide races and even managed to pull the scandal-plagued Jay Jones over the line in the attorney general’s race. In New Jersey, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., defied Republican momentum and kept the state’s blue streak alive. 

Meanwhile, socialist Zohran Mamdani managed to overcome a bipartisan effort to rally behind former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., to become the mayor of New York City.

And finally, California voters approved Proposition 50, allowing the state to circumvent the independent redistricting process that has been in effect in the state for nearly two decades. It approves a new congressional map that gives the Democrats a chance to gain up to five House seats in the 2026 midterm elections. 

There was, in short, simply no silver lining for the GOP Tuesday evening whatsoever.

While both Virginia and New Jersey are traditionally blue states and momentum tends to favor the out-of-power party in an off-year election, the sheer scope of the Democratic wins seems to suggest a more specific frustration with Republicans than just the typical souring on the incumbents.

At least a few Republicans, for their part, seem willing to learn some lessons. Several pundits, moreover, deemed the contests a decisive repudiation of Trump’s focus on foreign affairs at the expense of the economy.

“Trump spent all year on the Middle East, his big donors loved this, the voters did not,” said commentator Mike Cernovich. “Virginia is going to be under a Democrat super majority now. Keep listening to Mark Levin, Mr President, and you’ll be back to impeachment trials in 2026.”

Virginia

Conservative pundits drew an array of conclusions from the Virginia results, with some pointing to candidate quality, others noting the likely impact of the government shutdown, and still more recognizing the GOP’s turnout issues.

The Democrats retain control of both chambers of the state’s Legislature with big wins in House of Delegates elections. They won 64 seats so far, flipping at least 13 seats, according to the Associated Press. This will strengthen their hand in order to begin congressional redistricting, which is supported by Governor-elect Spanberger.

Republicans were absolutely crushed in Northern Virginia, with Arlington County, for instance, breaking more than 82% for Spanberger. Neighboring Fairfax County went 73% for her. Spanberger’s margin against Republican Winsome Earle-Sears ultimately cleared 13%. Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi, for her part, bested Republican John Reid by more than 9%, while Jones beat out incumbent GOP AG Jason Miyares by just under 5%.

“The shutdown is probably the only reason Jay Jones won,” opined conservative commentator Scott Greer. “A state filled with government workers will overlook texts wishing death upon children if they believe the opposing party is blocking their paychecks.”

While the wildly disparate margins reflect some variations in candidate quality and the impact of Jones’s scandal, other conservative pundits drew different conclusions from the Virginia races.

“When Trump isn't on the ballot, low propensity voters stay home. We saw these same patterns in every election since 2016,” conservative commentator Mike Cernovich opined. “Republicans win with Trump. Without him, they can’t bring out the vote.”

Trump notably did not campaign for Earle-Sears, who made minimal mention of him while on campaign. His get out the vote message for Virginians, meanwhile, only referenced Miyares.

New Jersey and New York

Though generally considered a blue state, the GOP enjoyed reasonable odds of winning the governor’s mansion, with Republican Jack Ciattarelli polling competitively with Sherrill ahead of Tuesday evening’s contest.

Nevertheless, Sherrill ultimately crushed Ciattarelli and led by more than 13% as of 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

Just over the state border, moreover, Zohran Mamdani, an avowed socialist, defeated Cuomo and ultimately earned more support than the combined totals of the former governor and Republican Curtis Sliwa.

Lessons learned?

Ahead of the elections, Republican-aligned pollsters were warning that Trump’s lurch toward foreign affairs had prompted discontent with younger voters, many of whom backed him to handle domestic economic concerns.

“Tonight's results need to be a wake-up call to the White House & the GOP -- stop focusing on foreign affairs, stop entangling us in endless conflicts, and focus at home on bread-and-butter issues for working people,” constitutional lawyer and pundit Robert Barnes said.

“The Republican Party is filled with losers. They were dead until Donald Trump came along,” pollster Richard Baris said on election night. “I’ve been screaming for months about this.”

“I don’t care what’s going on in Ukraine. I don’t care about what’s going on in Venezuela. I don’t care about any of this,” he said. “These voters were dramatically impacted by the shutdown. The MAGA agenda that these people voted for all over the country was designed to make their lives better. Give it back to the people who voted for you and make their lives better and maybe you can salvage this before it’s too late.”

Former national security advisor Mike Flynn, for his part, insisted that it represented voter dissatisfaction with Republicans in Congress.

“Today’s message to the GOP: GET YOUR SH!t TOGETHER FAST AND START DOING STUFF!!! The American people are fed up with politics and your political bullsh!t. We want action!” he said.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.