heavy defeat of Republicans in state elections; A wake-up call for mid-term elections

According to RCO News Agency, US President “Donald Trump” partially attributed the defeat of Republicans in the mayoral elections of New York state to the absence of his name on the ballot. Some of his closest allies blamed poor candidates, with one Republican even saying the party had failed to address the spending increases.

Following the victory of Democratic Socialist candidate Zahran Mamdani, whose policies Trump has openly criticized and called a “communist,” Politico wrote: All of this led to a night of recriminations from Republicans who sought to find the blame for their heavy losses in Virginia, New Jersey, California and several other state contests in the first general election since Trump took office in January.

Shortly after predicting the victory of the Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey and New York, Trump wrote in a message on the Truth Social social network: “According to election observers, “Trump’s name was not on the ballot” and the government shutdown were the two reasons why the Republicans lost tonight’s election.”

The election is often seen as an early referendum on how voters feel about the White House’s performance. Trump has largely avoided entering the fray this year, representing Republican candidates at various levels, and Republicans were quick to attribute Tuesday night’s poor results to the motivation of Democrats in blue-leaning states, rather than dissatisfaction with Trump himself. This reason perhaps mitigates the damage of what the 2025 results might mean for next year’s crucial midterm elections, while also showing some warning signals.

A White House ally, whose identity is withheld, told Politico: “It’s not doomsday, but it’s not a good sign either.” If you are in the president’s party, it is not a good night. But this is also a mid-term election. Part of this is the same struggle that’s always been there—how do you get his voters to the next election? There are people who go to the polls only when he is on the ballot.”

“People don’t feel that the promises have been fulfilled,” he added. “You won on cutting costs and putting more money back into people’s pockets, but people don’t feel that way now.”

In addition, Vivek Ramaswamy, a close Trump ally who ran for governor of Ohio, offered a blunt assessment, attributing the Republicans’ heavy defeat in part to the party’s failure to address spending increases.

In a video he posted on X, he said: “We failed a bit.”

Trump’s close aides pointed the finger at Winsome Earle-Sears and Jack Ciatarelli — two Republican candidates who lost heavily in the gubernatorial races of Virginia and New Jersey. While Republicans, at least in New Jersey, were optimistic at the start of their campaigns. Trump’s former campaign manager and long-time aide to his Virginia campaigns, Chris Lasivita, called Earl-Caesar’s poor performance a disaster of his own making.

“A bad candidate and a bad campaign has consequences,” he wrote on social media shortly after the media tipped the race in favor of Earl-Sir-Democrat challenger Abigail Spanberger. The Virginia gubernatorial race is example #1.

Alex Breizowitz, the head of Trump’s political action committee and a former adviser to the campaign and the White House in the Trump administration, accused Earl-Caesar of being “not a friend of President Trump” and at the same time asked the Republican candidates to give more support to the president in order to win the election.

Earle-Caesar and Ciatarelli both credited Trump for the support they received during their campaigns, but the president notably distanced himself from the Virginia candidate — who Trump has repeatedly criticized in the intervening years.

Few Republicans faulted the president for his decision to stay out of races in Virginia, New York and California — a tacit acknowledgment that entering campaigns in Democratic states can backfire, Politico concluded. But Trump’s last-minute phone call to Republicans on Monday spoke volumes about how little support he has for the most prominent Republican candidates.

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