DALLAS — Republicans woke up Wednesday to the brutal reality of a complete wipeout in the midterms that has forced a reckoning within the party about the future — or the end — of President Trump’s MAGA movement.
“It’s time for the GOP to rebuild in a post-Trump reality. This was a reckoning,” Austin-based Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak told The Washington Times.
The Election Day rebuke of the Trump agenda arguably hit the hardest in Texas.
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Pro-MAGA, Trump-endorsed Attorney General Ken Paxton lost by double digits to far-left state Rep. James Talarico in the Senate race, making him the first Republican to lose a Senate seat here in nearly four decades.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott also went down in a shocking loss to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, and Democrats took control of the Texas House.
After Tuesday, very little was left of the Lone Star State’s famed red wall.
SEE ALSO: Midterm massacre delivers brutal rebuke to Republican Party’s priorities under Trump
Mr. Mackowiak was senior adviser to GOP incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, who lost to Mr. Paxton in the Texas primary in part because Mr. Trump backed his MAGA opponent.
Mr. Cornyn had warned Mr. Paxton would fare worse with voters and predicted, correctly, that he’d lose the seat.
“MAGA’s power in the party and within the country will decrease significantly after this all-time disaster election result,” Mr. Mackowiak said.
What’s left of the MAGA coalition? Nobody really knows yet.
“In 18 months, Donald Trump created a coalition that was able to ascend him to the White House with the popular vote. And both chambers of Congress. And over the next 18 months, he disassembled that coalition piece by piece,” Republican political analyst Ryan Girdusky said.
The GOP’s leading political stars were scrambling amidst the rubble to position themselves ahead of 2028 as possible successors who might inherit the fractured MAGA voter base that twice put Mr. Trump in the Oval Office.
SEE ALSO: Trump says he has no regrets about Iran war, despite midterm rout
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who unsuccessfully challenged Mr. Trump for the presidential nomination in 2024, is now again eyed as a serious White House contender for the GOP.
Mr. DeSantis emerged as one of the few Republican winners Tuesday night.
The term-limited governor wasn’t on the ballot but is credited with keeping Florida red through his popular initiatives, including a recent move to ban Flock cameras and limit data centers.
Florida Voters reelected GOP incumbent Sen. Ashley Moody and a slate of Republican state officials. They also endorsed Mr. DeSantis’ referendum to provide a property tax cut for homeowners.
He quickly showcased himself as a place of refuge for the battered party faithful.
The governor, sidelined by his party for challenging Mr. Trump two years ago, ripped the GOP in a told-you-so press conference Wednesday morning.
“This is close to an extinction-level event for Republicans,” Mr. DeSantis said. “To call it a wave I don’t think would be fully accurate. It’s the political equivalent of a meteor strike.”
The midterm election battering could cost Vice President J.D. Vance his position as the Republican most likely to inherit the MAGA coalition and lead the party heading into a post-Trump era.
Mr. Vance wrote a lengthy reflection on his party’s drubbing and posted it on social media, largely blaming the Iran war for alienating Trump voters, who, he learned from internal polling, showed up on Election Day — and voted for Democrats.
He admitted the war split MAGA badly and hinted at a future GOP that builds a new coalition.
“Everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there,” Mr. Vance said. “To the people who are pissed off and want to say, ‘I told you so’: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview.”
There was also post-election buzz around Sen. Ted Cruz, the only statewide Republican left standing in Texas after Tuesday’s wipeout. Mr Cruz on Wednesday was credited with predicting the bloodbath that lay ahead for Texas Republicans. He’s run for president before and said in a recent podcast he still aspires to win the White House.
“Ted Cruz is now a swing-state senator with relatively low ties to the Iran war,” one political commentator said on social media under the handle “The Package.”
Democrats were slated to pick up more than 40 seats in the House and 7 in the Senate, far more than even the most favorable polling predicted.
In 2006, Democrats picked up 31 seats in the House and two years later, flipped another 21 seats, giving the party a hefty majority that allowed them to advance Obamacare and green energy policies.
It didn’t last long. In 2010, Republicans won back the House in a landslide, and the voters have wavered back and forth between the two parties ever since.
Republican voters will sort out what’s left of the MAGA coalition, pollster Jim McLaughlin said.
“Just like the grassroots and the voters chose Donald Trump, they will choose the future of the America First movement. The voters choose the issues, candidates and agendas that best match their values and needs.”
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