Sen. Jim Justice, R-W. Va., said the GOP can “forget” about taking back the Senate majority in 2028 after Democrats’ blue wave secured the majority in both chambers of Congress following last week’s midterm elections.
Eight Republican-held Senate seats were flipped, bringing the Democratic caucus to 55 seats after Democrat Scott Colom was projected on Wednesday to win Mississippi’s Senate race. The caucus could gain another seat if Democrat Mary Peltola holds onto her narrow lead in Alaska.
“You can forget 2028. Absolutely,” Justice told the Washington Examiner of the next federal election.
“I hope and pray we don’t lose the presidency. But this is such a colossal blow that it is beyond belief how colossal this is to America,” he continued.
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Justice joined President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and other Republicans in partially attributing the party’s midterm losses to the war in Iran, which led to surging fuel prices.
Gas prices are nearly 90 cents per gallon higher than a year ago, according to AAA, which listed the national average at about $3.94 per gallon on Wednesday, compared with $3.07 a year earlier.
“Obviously, the election result was not what we hoped for,” Thune told reporters earlier this week. “But I think it’s important that we take the lessons from that and internalize the message the American people were sending to us.”
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Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, who was chosen to chair the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Republicans’ Senate campaign arm for the 2028 cycle, said the GOP must learn from their disastrous showing in the midterms.
“I was in the retail automobile business, so when you don’t listen to your customers, your customers punish you. I think we have to own it, and I think we have to learn from it,” he said.
Similar to the 2006 midterms, Republicans suffered significant losses and huge upsets in midterm elections shaped largely by voter anger over a Middle East war and scrutiny of a GOP president’s leadership.
In 2006, Democrats gained 31 House seats and six Senate seats to retake both chambers of Congress under then-President George W. Bush. Two years later, Democrats further added to their majorities and elected former President Barack Obama.