Democrats’ decisive election victory this week in a mayoral race in Florida has left conservatives scrambling as the GOP continues to suffer unprecedented losses in the lead up to next year’s midterms, and on Saturday, two conservative commentators warned that outside of a major course correction, the GOP had “big problems” heading into 2026.
“Anything that a Democrat wins right now, the party is going to be able to crow and say this is a sign that voters are already tired of Donald Trump and this is a harbinger of Democratic victory in 2026,” said Byron York with the Washington Examiner during an appearance Saturday on Fox Business. “Not really clear from this particular race, but Republicans do have big problems nationwide.”
On Tuesday, then-Democratic candidate Eileen Higgins won the mayoral race in Miami, Florida with nearly 60% of the vote, defeating her GOP opponent backed by President Donald Trump handily, and securing her spot as the first Democratic mayor of the city in nearly 30 years.
Mollie Hemingway, a Fox News contributor, said that while it was hard to predict 2026 based on a single race, the extent by which Higgins won was not something Republicans could afford to ignore.
“I don't know how much should be read in a national sense to a local election like that, and it's also true that Miami has had Republican mayors who aren't the most conservative, but having said that, you would really want to be probably in the Democrat Party more than the Republican Party heading into next year's midterms,” Hemingway said.
“[That’s] in part because Republicans don't seem to have much of a message making the case for why to vote for them, apart from Donald Trump, and Donald Trump's not on the ballot next year.”
"Republicans don't seem to have much of a message"
Conservative commentators @MZHemingway and @ByronYork sound the alarm for the GOP heading into the midterms after Miami's election blowout pic.twitter.com/36zgZIQEVq
— Alexander Willis (@ReporterWillis) December 13, 2025