Republican lawmakers, ex-lawmakers, and strategists are panicking in the wake of the sweeping Democratic wins across the nation last week in several election contests, with some calling for their party to re-strategize its messaging, and quickly, Politico reported Sunday.
“This blew past our worst-case scenario of everything,” said one Republican who worked on multiple races in Virginia, where Democrats secured multiple victories, speaking with Politico on the condition of anonymity.
In Virginia, Democrats won elections for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, as well as flipped a congressional seat. Democrats also scored major victories in New Jersey, winning the governor’s seat in that state, while also expanding their House majority in the Virginia legislature.
Now, Republicans – particularly those in Virginia – have been left shocked by the blowout, including former Virginia state Rep. Tim Anderson, who made an unsuccessful bid for the Virginia House of Delegates but was bested by his Democratic opponent Michael Feggans.
“They just smoked us. I mean, gosh, they wiped us off the map,” Anderson said, Politico reported. “It’s going to take four years to rebuild what happened on Tuesday.”
Some Republican operatives began pointing the finger at each other for the massive blowout, with Mark Peake – the chair of the Republican Party of Virginia – pushing back on criticism of his leadership, arguing that it was not his or the state party’s job to “set campaign strategy,” Politico reported.
“A unit chair complaining that [the Republican Party of Virginia] didn’t do enough to win the election?” Peake said. “It’s kind of like an offensive line coach complaining about the head coach not scoring enough points.”
Others, like GOP strategist DJ Jordan, suggested that President Donald Trump was the driving force behind the Republican Party’s blowout last week.
“The majority of Virginia voters don’t like the president, and many of them have a visceral hatred for him and his governing style,” Jordan said, referencing Democratic voters in the state, Politico reported.