More than a dozen Republican leaders in state legislatures across the country have headed for the exits over the past 14 months, in what analysts said could be yet another ominous sign of midterm trouble for a party already reeling from Donald Trump's cratering approval ratings.

The departures, which come from battleground states including Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia and Iowa, mirror a parallel exodus happening in Congress, where 36 Republican House members and seven GOP senators have announced they won't seek reelection in November.

"I think he puts Republicans on the defensive with his actions," Colorado GOP consultant Dick Wadhams told Politico in a report published Saturday. "They can't stand it anymore."

The most damaging losses have come in Wisconsin, where Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu both announced retirements in recent months, leaving the party defending razor-thin margins on redrawn maps that already cost them 10 Assembly seats in 2024.

"Democrats are salivating at the opportunity. Politico put it bluntly: 'Republicans are losing their bench.'"

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is spending $50 million — its largest investment ever — targeting 42 chambers this November, with party officials explicitly comparing 2026 to 2010, when Republicans flipped 22 chambers in a single wave election.

A recent Marquette Law School poll found just 42 percent of Wisconsin voters approve of Trump's job performance, with majorities opposing the Iran war and supporting the Supreme Court's decision to overturn his tariffs.

A candidate for the Georgia State Senate earned a heaping of mockery on Saturday over a glaring gaffe in an advertisement in the Atlanta Jewish Times that wished Jewish constituents a "blessed Passover" and used a picture of challah bread, which cannot be consumed during the holiday.

Nathalie Kanani is a Georgia attorney and Democratic candidate for State Senate District 14 in Fulton County. Her advertisement raised eyebrows on social media this week.

"Have A Blessed Passover," the ad reads in the print version of the newspaper. "Wishing you a Passover rich in divine love and blessings."

The ad appeared to include a blue and white flag draped over a loaf of Challah bread, sitting next to a pair of tall candles.

However, observers homed in on the challah bread gaffe.

Greg Bluestein, chief political reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, wrote on X, "Georgia Senate candidate’s Passover ad in this week’s Atlanta Jewish Times features challah. It’s the thought that counts, I guess."

Jonah Goldberg, editor-in-chief at The Dispatch wrote on X, "Nothing like a good Passover challah. Almost as good as a Yom Kippur BLT sandwich."

Progressive political commentator Molly Jong-Fast wrote on X, "Omg this is incredible."

She added: "Veep was a documentary."

Georgia state Rep. Esther Panitch (D) chided on X, "Bless her heart, someone put challah in a Passover ad. This candidate wants to be my senator. As the only Jewish member of the Georgia General Assembly, I am available for holiday consults — or you could just consider a candidate who knows the difference, whose ad is just a few pages after this one in the @AtlJewishTimes."

Journalist Rachel Feldman wrote on X, "Just my head making up staff conversations at the @AtlJewishTimes: 'They paid for it…' 'Do we correct them?' 'We’re advertising, not news.' 'So people can buy…' 'Yup.' 'So we don’t correct them?' 'The public will.' 'Can we report on that?' 'That’s none of my business.'"

Donald Trump added to a turbulent Saturday with a racially charged immigration post on Truth Social, repeating a slogan popular among white nationalists — just hours after threatening Iran with an apocalyptic 48-hour ultimatum.

Earlier in the day, Trump warned that "all Hell will reign down" on Iran if they didn't make a deal or reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, signing off with "Glory be to GOD!"

Hours later, he pivoted to domestic messaging with equal intensity: "If you import the Third World, you become the Third World!" he posted. "AND THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS LONG AS I AM PRESIDENT."

The phrase, long circulated in far-right circles and previously used by Trump adviser Stephen Miller, frames immigration from developing nations as an existential threat to American civilization. It's often referred to as Great Replacement theory.

The posts come amid a cratering economy and as 13 American service members have died in Iran, with gas prices topping $4 a gallon nationally.

Trump has repeatedly used dehumanizing language to describe immigrants, including describing them as people who are "poisoning the blood" of the country, language historians have noted echoes of the rhetoric of authoritarian movements.