'How you lose a race': GOP airs 'serious concern' as Democrats make waves in red states

Republican Party officials have a "serious concern" that Democrats could make huge gains in typically red states.

Lower polling numbers than expected for the GOP and candidates who are, according to insiders, not taking their races seriously, are worrying Republicans running election campaigns this year. A special election Tuesday in Tennessee's 7th Congressional District could be an indicator of how the 2026 midterms will turn out — and GOP members worry it's leaning towards a Democrat sweep.

Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries suggested the party had been "over-performing" in parts of the country that Trump's administration had flipped in the 2024 election.

He told NOTUS, "Democrats have been over-performing the 2024 Trump numbers since the very beginning of his presidency, starting in late January in Iowa, where we flipped a district that Donald Trump had just won."

While Republican Matt Van Epps is projected to win the race for the Tennessee state representative seat, Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn is reportedly closer than the GOP had hoped. In some races, however, the Republican Party has slipped well behind.

A strategist speaking on Republican Andy Ogles' campaign suggested that the financial gap between how much cash the former Maury County mayor had raised and how much the Democrat candidate had raised is now a bridge too far.

An unnamed strategist said, "I mean, he’s raising like no money. You can’t just lie around and do nothing. That’s how you lose any race — primary or general." Other GOP strategists have a "very serious concern" over how Ogles is running his campaign for reelection.

Rep. Richard Hudson, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, backed the anonymous strategist and said the strength of a campaign comes from its financial backing.

He said, "But obviously, the more money you have in your campaign account, the stronger you are, the more opportunity you have to communicate with the voters. You might have raised a red flag for me."

Gov. Andy Beshear (D) would suggest the flip of Trump voters from red to blue will appear in the midterms thanks to the president's "betrayal" of his voters.

Beshear said, "So when you look at that flip of Trump voters, it’s both that our candidates were more focused on where people are right now — I’m trying to make their lives a little bit easier and a little bit better — and Donald Trump has betrayed them with the way he’s governed this last year."