Republicans just got routed. In Tuesday’s elections, Democrats didn’t merely hold on—they demolished the GOP across the map, from Virginia and New Jersey to California, where voters approved a ballot measure expected to hand Democrats as many as five new U.S. House seats.
Add in two big special-election wins in Georgia, and it’s clear: The Trump brand is electoral poison, and the Republican Party can’t help but guzzle it anyway.
A deluded President Donald Trump likely expected a big repudiation of his hated Democratic Party foes, and he spent Election Day doing what he does best—screaming at his supporters on Truth Social.
Newly elected New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill
“Virginia and New Jersey, VOTE REPUBLICAN IF YOU WANT MASSIVE ENERGY COST AND CRIME REDUCTIONS,” he raged on one post. “The Democrats will double and even triple your Energy Costs, and CRIME will be rampant. A vote for the Democrats is a DEATH WISH! VOTE REPUBLICAN!!!”
Voters didn’t vote Republican.
He followed up with another tirade: “Why would anyone vote for New Jersey and Virginia Gubernatorial Candidates, Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, when they want transgender for everybody, men playing in women’s sports, High Crime, and the most expensive Energy prices almost anywhere in the World? VOTE REPUBLICAN for massive Energy Cost reductions, large scale Tax Cuts, and basic Common Sense! Under President Trump, ME, Gasoline will come down to approximately $2 a Gallon, very soon! With the Democrats, you’ll be paying $4, $5, and $6 a Gallon, and your Electric and other Energy costs will, likewise, SOAR. VOTE REPUBLICAN FOR A GREAT AND VERY AFFORDABLE LIFE. All you’ll get from voting Democrat is unrelentingly High Crime, Energy prices through the roof, men playing in women’s sports, and HEARTACHE!”
Voters tuned out Trump’s all-caps panic about MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS and ZOMG TRANSGENDER. They were too busy paying more for groceries thanks to Republican mismanagement. So voters didn’t vote Republican.
And as if to make sure nobody missed the point, he went even louder: “VIRGINIA AND NEW JERSEY, REMEMBER THIS: A VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN MEANS SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER ENERGY PRICES, A VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT, ESPECIALLY THESE TWO LOSERS WHO ARE RUNNING, MEANS A DOUBLING, TRIPLING, AND EVEN QUADRUPLING OF YOUR ENERGY COSTS. IT WILL NOT BE SUSTAINABLE, AND YOU WILL RUE THE DAY THAT YOU VOTED TO DESTROY YOUR LIFE! FAILING TO VOTE TOMORROW IS THE SAME AS VOTING FOR A DEMOCRAT.”
Those “losers” didn’t just win—they buried the GOP.
The scale of the Democratic victories was dramatic. In New Jersey, where several polls claimed the governor’s race was neck and neck, Democratic Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill walloped Republican Jack Ciattarelli by 13 points, 56–43. Just four years ago, Ciattarelli lost his bid against Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy by only three points.
The difference? In 2021, Ciattarelli kept his distance from Trump. This time, he wrapped himself around the toxic bigot in the half-demolished White House.
Newly elected Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger
In Virginia, Democrats handily swept the three statewide races on the ballot—governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. But that wasn’t even the most amazing part: Democrats picked up 13 seats in the House of Delegates, expanding their narrow 51–48 majority to a near-supermajority 64–36 in a chamber Republicans controlled as recently as 2023. That’s their largest majority in 40 years.
That’s a serious ass-whooping.
And it didn’t stop there. In California, voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 50, a mid-decade redistricting measure that allows for a partisan gerrymander—potentially flipping up to five GOP-held U.S. House seats. That one ballot initiative alone has neutered Texas’ mid-decade partisan gerrymander.
And in Georgia, Democrats flipped two statewide special elections, both with more than 60% of the vote. Across the country, Democrats ran on a clear, cohesive message—affordability—and it landed.
Republicans should be terrified, because the anti-Trump, anti-GOP anger that powered these wins isn’t fading—it’s intensifying.
Trump, of course, had excuses: “‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to Pollsters.”
Who knows what magical pollsters he’s talking about—hopefully not the ones who thought New Jersey would be close. But even if he’s right, guess who won’t be on the ballot in 2026, or ever again? Donald J. Trump.
In trying to deflect blame, he just told every Republican exactly what they fear most: Trump can’t save them anymore.
Related | Trump promises ‘living hell’ if Republicans don’t kill filibuster
Trump’s shutdown excuse is as close as he’ll ever get to an accidental confession. The shutdown isn’t a Washington parlor game—it’s a national disaster, and voters know exactly who lit the fuse. His proposed “solution”—ending the Senate filibuster—only underscores how disconnected he is from reality.
Voters didn’t punish Republicans for failing to end the shutdown; they punished them for causing it, for gleefully smashing government and the public services that millions of Americans—especially rural conservatives—depend on.
Trump is toxic—more unpopular today than at any point during either of his two presidencies. His party still hasn’t been able to quit him, and now he’s dragging it straight into electoral ruin.
With these results, the GOP’s fate in 2026 seems clear. They can finally start to distance themselves from Trump and maybe earn a fighting chance in next year’s midterms—or they can stay the course and go down with the ship.
