Famed Democratic strategist James Carville made the stunning prediction Saturday that Democrats would pick up as many as 45 seats in the House of Representatives later this year in the 2026 midterm elections, as well as reclaim the Senate majority, eliciting pushback from Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany.
“I'm looking at the 2026 elections, and frankly, it's going to be a wipeout,” Carville said, appearing on Fox News. “Your viewers need to know that the Democrats are going to pick up, at a minimum, 25 seats, maybe as high as 45, and in all likelihood the Democrats will carry the Senate. And I think we're shaping up very well for the 2028 election.”
Visibly taken aback, McEnany called Carville’s claim a “bold prediction,” but pushed back by pointing to what she described as a potentially imminent “economic revival” driven by the Trump administration’s policies.
“The trendlines are very good, James, when you look at inflation coming down, when you look at GDP,” McEnany said. “Do you think an economic revival that I think will come cannot demolish the trend you're seeing?”
Carville conceded that while “anything is possible,” among Republicans candidates’ first challenges would be to defend President Donald Trump’s recent comments about cancelling the midterm elections entirely.
“Why is Trump trying to call the election off?” Carville said. “The first question every Republican candidate will have to answer: will you agree to have an election in November, 2026 because Trump has said he doesn't think we even need one!”
