GOP bigwig pleads with voters to ignore high prices

The chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee is ignoring widespread public dissatisfaction with Donald Trump's unpopular war and skyrocketing gas prices, instead urging voters to exercise patience and still cast their ballots for Republicans in November.

Despite polling showing heavy dissatisfaction with Republicans' slim House majority — and predictions that the party could lose as many as 30 seats in the chamber — Richard Hudson insisted that the Republican base will ultimately prove forgiving.

"I'm not worried at all because voters remember that we had $9 gas in some places and we've now brought prices down," Hudson said on the NOTUS podcast. "It's a question of, 'Do you want to continue down this path of recovery, or do we want to go back to artificially inflated gas prices?'"

Hudson's strategy relies on framing the 2026 House elections as a choice between Republican policies under Trump versus memories of the Biden administration — a gamble that appears increasingly risky given the ongoing economic pain from the Iran war, Ed Deamria of NOTUS wrote.

"We're still on a rescue mission," Hudson said. "Remember how bad it was before? Give us a chance to continue to make your lives better."

Hudson also celebrated a recent Supreme Court ruling that Louisiana's congressional map constituted an "unconstitutional racial gerrymander," opening the door for states to redraw their lines ahead of November's elections.

"I think states need to heed this ruling," Hudson advised. "There are some states that have already had their primaries, but certainly states that haven't had their primaries yet, I think they ought to delay the primaries and heed the ruling to make sure their maps are legal."

In his comments, Hudson appeared to distance himself from Republicans' mid-decade redistricting efforts earlier this year, but this week claimed the initiative was ultimately beneficial, the report notes.

As Republicans work to craft their midterm message, Hudson acknowledged that the party has failed to effectively communicate its economic achievements, particularly from the 2025 reconciliation bill.

"We haven't done a good job with it," Hudson conceded. "We've tried to really talk about the things that are affecting people's pocketbooks because that's the top issue on voters' minds right now. … But there's so much good."