Wall Street Journal editors warn election shows GOP 'heading for bigger problems in 2026'

President Donald Trump lost no time in deflecting blame for the GOP's shellacking at the ballot box around the country this week, claiming Republicans lost because of the shutdown and it wasn't his fault because he "wasn't on the ballot."

But that's really not true, the Wall Street Journal editorial board argued on Wednesday — and if Trump truly believes this, Republicans are "heading for bigger problems in 2026."

"Mr. Trump was on the ballot — not literally, but nonetheless as the main motivating force behind a dominating Democratic turnout," wrote the board, which, despite its strong conservative leanings, has come down hard on Trump for months, particularly on the issue of his tariffs. "Winning Democratic candidates for Governor in New Jersey and Virginia linked their opponents to Mr. Trump, driving Democratic voters to the polls and erasing the GOP gains in 2024 among Hispanics, black men and independents."

It also can't just be chalked up to poor candidate quality, the board wrote, because Republicans lost across the board.

In Virginia, they wrote, "The tsunami was big enough that Democrats were able to pick up 13 seats in the state House of Delegates. They’ll have 64 seats out of 100, which could give Democrats the chance to redistrict next year to gain Congressional seats. [Gov.-elect Abigail] Spanberger will now face pressure from Democrats to go further than her cautious campaign indicated." Meanwhile, "The results in New Jersey were similar. Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill looks like she’ll win by 13 points, while incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy won by only three in 2021," and Democrats even won statewide races in Georgia and broke the Mississippi GOP's supermajority in the state Senate.

There's something deeper at the root of all this, the board argued.

"The electorate gave Mr. Trump another term because he pledged to lower prices and raise real incomes," wrote the board. "But his economic record is mixed at best. Inflation is stuck at 3%. Yet Mr. Trump causes damage with his mercurial tariffs, and then he demands the Federal Reserve slash interest rates to compensate for it. Meantime, he pursues polarizing distractions from his mandate, such as ordering the National Guard into cities that don’t want it and lobbying for indictments of his political opponents."

Taken in context, the board concluded, what happened this week is "a warning from voters" — and if Republicans don't adapt, they could face wipeout next year.