The GOP is favored to win a slim majority in the House, but it will likely be much smaller than many prominent party members and leaders expected if the Nov. 8 election — predicting a “red wave” would dominate the midterms. In the Senate, however, things aren’t looking so bright for the GOP. A closely contested race in Georgia between incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Walker and his Republican challenger, football star Herschel Walker, is headed for a December runoff. If Walker comes out on top in this election and equals the 50 Democratic seats in the upper chamber, Democrats will still have control of the Senate because of the Vice President’s ability to tie. While several politicians across the spectrum believe issues like abortion and former President Donald Trump hurt the GOP’s chances, others insist the quality of the candidates played a role as Republicans hammered inflation and crime in the final days before the elections. TRIFECT MID-TERM ELECTIONS: DEMOCRATS WON FULL GOVERNMENT CONTROL IN THESE STATES Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, left, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, right. (Sarah Silbiger, Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) Although several Republicans did well in their elections, Ben LaBolt, who served as the national press secretary for former President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, told Fox News Digital that “MAGA aligned” and “extremists who deny the elections” did not perform well because their “radical” beliefs failed to resonate with persuasive voters. “While relatively moderate GOP House candidates performed in line with expectations, MAGA aligned, election-denying extremists lost almost all of the swing races,” LaBolt said. “Their beliefs were simply too radical for persuasive voters. President Biden and the Democrats exceeded expectations by nominating mainstream candidates, passing a popular agenda to lower costs for working Americans and serving as a bulwark against extremism.” Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster, said he believes the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn federal protections for abortion, as well as endorsements made by Trump, were among the reasons Republicans struggled this cycle. . “The Republicans should have run away with this election,” Ayres, who serves as president of North Star Opinion Research, told Fox. “They didn’t because the Dobbs decision emboldened many women and younger voters, and because Trump endorsed many weak, first-time candidates who won primaries but couldn’t win a general election.” Similarly, Democratic pollster Celinda Lake told Fox that women and young voters made their voices heard in the election as they distanced themselves from GOP candidates. “Women and young people spoke,” said Lake, president of Lake Research Partners. “They rejected Trumpism and divisiveness.” HOW DEMOCRAFT IN NEW YORK HELPED THE PARTY WIN KEY SEATS Former President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters during a campaign party at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Phelan M. Ebenhack for The Washington Post via Getty Images) Christy Setzer, a Democratic strategist, said the GOP’s decline in several elections is because “the world is tired of crazy people.” “At least in the blue and purple states, voters sent a strong message that they don’t want to hear anymore about transgender kids in sports or big lies about stolen elections; they want smoothness in their politics and they want to affirm respect for democracy,” said Setzer, president and founder of New Heights Communications. “The culture wars have worked in red states, some of which have only gotten redder, but Republicans have underperformed deeply with the same groups that rallied to Biden’s victory in 2020: young voters, women, people of color and independents. Inflation is temporary, but authoritarianism can last forever.” For some, the “candidate quality” that has stifled Republicans’ chances of widening their expected majority in the House and regaining control of the Senate is an issue that must be addressed by the party moving forward. “It’s very clear that the quality of the candidates matters, and it’s cost the GOP several winnable races,” Chris Wilson, a pollster and former director of research and analysis for the failed campaign of GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, said in a statement on Fox. “It is equally clear that loyalty to Donald Trump should no longer be the deciding factor in the Republican primary. In addition, it is important that GOP candidates have a forward-looking vision that addresses important issues such as inflation, crime, and values. The 2020 elections are in the past and should be buried in the ashes of political history.” TOP WHITE HOUSE AIDES SAYS INTERIM RESULTS SHOW ‘HEALTH AND STRENGTH’ OF WORLD LEADERS’ REPUBLIC Republican Senators-elect meet with Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on November 15, 2022. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Lise Smith, a Democratic strategist who served as a senior adviser to Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 campaign, told Fox that Republicans should “call back the crazy” if they want to win elections in the future. “Democrats were able to defy historical trends in the midterms and outperform in large part because the Republican nominated people who were way outside the mainstream,” Smith said. “It turns out that independent voters and a significant number of Republican voters simply won’t vote for candidates who oppose abortion in all cases and who deny the results of the 2020 election. If Republicans want to actually fix it, they need to call back the crazy. “ Tommy Garcia, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the GOP’s weak performance in the midterms came after Democratic candidates compared themselves to Republicans who “pose a real threat to reproductive freedoms, democracy and pocketbooks.” of everyday people”. “While Kevin McCarthy and Tom Emmer were busy measuring their curtains and boasting that they would flip 60 to 70 seats, Democrats worked and made a clear contrast between results-oriented Democrats working to reduce costs and keep communities safe and radical Republicans who are a real threat to people’s reproductive freedoms, democracy and everyday pocketbooks,” Garcia told Fox. Ahead of the midterms, conservative firebrand Senator Ted Cruz of Texas predicted in an interview with Fox News that he believed the outcome of the 2022 election would be “not just a red wave, but a red tsunami.” Despite several losses in key elections, including Republican Mehmet Oz’s loss to Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in the Keystone State Senate race, the GOP was able to retain control of many seats that Democrats had focused on in the midterms terms of office. Republican JD Vance beat Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan to replace retiring GOP Sen. Rob Portman in Ohio, while GOP Rep. Ted Budd defeated Democrat Cheri Beasley in North Carolina. Pennsylvania Senate candidates John Fetterman and Dr. Mehmet Oz, participate in a debate on October 25 in Harrisburg, PA. (NewsNation) In the House, Republicans also flipped several Democratic-held seats in an effort to increase GOP strength in the chamber. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP “House Republicans have checked Biden’s disastrous agenda, won seats for a second consecutive term and flipped the House for just the third time in 68 years,” National Republican Congressional Committee communications director Michael McAdams told Fox News Digital. Notable wins include Republican Jen Kiggans’ defeat of House committeewoman Elaine Luria, Democrat, on Jan. 6 to represent Virginia’s 2nd District, as well as Lori Chavez-DeRemer’s election victory over Democrat her opponent, Jamie McLeod-Skinner. to represent Oregon’s 5th District. In New York, a state that votes heavily Democratic and favors mostly left-leaning policies, Republicans flipped four House seats.
