President Donald Trump quickly found a culprit for a number of major Republican losses in Tuesday’s slate of elections: the ongoing government shutdown.
“‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to Pollsters,” Trump posted to Truth Social after a series of Democratic victories across the country. It is unclear which “pollsters” the president was referring to.
Democrats quickly sought to cast their victories as a referendum on the president’s popularity and his administration’s most chaotic actions over the past year.
“If 2017 and 2018 were about the resistance, 2025 and 2026 could be the reckoning,” Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic strategist, told NOTUS. “Last time, it was about fighting back. This time it’s about people being betrayed.”
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As of Tuesday night, the party had declared victory in nearly every major race.
Virginians elected Democrats across the board, with former Rep. Abigail Spanberger projected to claim victory in the governor’s race and former state delegate Jay Jones overcoming a headline-grabbing texting scandal to win a tightly contested race for attorney general.
In New Jersey, Rep. Mikie Sherrill is projected to become the state’s next governor; and in New York City, self-professed democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is expected to win the mayor’s race by a wide margin.
The victories came despite some last-minute campaigning from Trump, who previously threatened to slash funding for New York should Mamdani be elected. Earlier Tuesday, he posted to Truth Social: “Any Jewish person that votes for Zohran Mamdani, a proven and self professed JEW HATER, is a stupid person!!!”
Trump became involved in several statewide races in the waning days of the election cycle, appearing at virtual campaign rallies alongside Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial candidates Winsome Earle-Sears and Jack Ciattarelli. In a Monday night phone event, Trump spoke at length about his support for Ciattarelli — though he failed to mention Earle-Sears’ name once.
But the president sought to cast blame elsewhere when those candidates both lost handily, pointing to the historic government shutdown and its ripple effects across the country.
On Wednesday, the shutdown officially reached 36 days — beating the previous 2019 shutdown record of 35 days, which occurred during Trump’s first term.
Pressure on lawmakers to end the shutdown is mounting as the deadline for expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies approaches, putting millions at risk of skyrocketing insurance premiums.
Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also lapsed over the weekend, putting benefits in jeopardy for millions of Americans who rely on the program. The Trump administration agreed on Monday to send out partial payments after a federal judge ruled that the government must use its emergency reserves to provide continuity for beneficiaries.
In order to end the disruptive shutdown and push through his agenda before next year’s midterm elections, Trump has pushed Senate Republicans to nuke the filibuster, the upper chamber’s rule requiring a 60-vote threshold to pass legislation.
Trump renewed those calls Tuesday night in a handful of Truth Social posts.
“TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER,” the president said in one post. “GET BACK TO PASSING LEGISLATION AND VOTER REFORM!”
“Pass Voter Reform, Voter ID, No Mail-In Ballots,” he said in another post. “Save our Supreme Court from ‘Packing,’ No Two State addition, etc. TERMINATE THE FILIBUSTER!!!”
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