After a narrow defeat in Virginia, Republicans are pointing fingers at him as President Donald Trump’s national battle turns into a stalemate.
Many Republicans say the party should have spent more much earlier to make a better effort to block the Democrats’ Virginia map, which could have given the party four more House seats. And now pressure is mounting on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to offset Democrats’ gains with a GOP-led redistricting effort in his state as soon as next week.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a single Republican tonight who doesn’t think the GOP should have done more in Virginia. What’s really sadder is that it was so close,” said a GOP activist who, like others in this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.
There are increasing signs that Trump and the GOP have used up valuable time and political capital in a tough tit-for-tat contest that, so far, looks like it will be close to a tie. Even if Republicans reduce their gains in the new Florida map, their overall gains are likely to remain modest.
“I don’t think Republicans looked at the map and said, ‘Okay, what’s the worst-case scenario, what could happen if all the Democrat-controlled legislators rebelled against this?'” said one Virginia Republican. “We’re looking at something that’s looking really good at the moment and erasing the gains we’ve struggled to make elsewhere.”
Tuesday’s results in Virginia, combined with gains in California and a new court-drawn seat in Utah, effectively erased the gains Republicans had made with the new maps in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri. It’s a major reversal nearly nine months after Trump first urged Republicans in the Lone Star State to redraw the maps, flipping the midterm battleground state.
“Just you’ve got to get the truth and not partisan spin here,” said Erick Erickson, a conservative radio host and an influential voice with evangelical voters at the center of the MAGA base. Republicans came up with the idea of a mid-decade redistricting fight and started in Texas. written on x After the amendment was passed in Virginia.
“Now, as has been said, the Democrats have an advantage in the redistricting fight,” he said.
The RNC and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Representative Richard Hudson, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, hopes the state Supreme Court, which has reserved the right to consider the new map after the election, will strike down the Democrats’ effort.
“This close margin reinforces that Virginia is a purple state that should not be represented by a severe partisan gerrymander,” Hudson said in a statement. “That’s why the courts, which have already ruled twice to stop this egregious power grab, should uphold the Virginia law.”
Still, many Virginia Republicans said their party could have done more to prevent Democrats from winning Tuesday. Democrats outnumbered Republicans by a margin of nearly three-to-one, putting Republicans at a disadvantage on the airwaves until the final stages of the race. Virginians for Fair Elections – which led the “yes” effort – raised $64 million Virginia Department of Elections dataNearly $38 million in support came from House Majority Forward, a political nonprofit aligned with the House Democratic leadership.
Even though Republicans have far more money stashed in outside groups — including the $297 million brought in by Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. since the beginning of last year — they ultimately can’t match Democrats’ investments.
“If they had spent some money, they could have won tonight and someone would have owned up to it and explained why that decision was made,” said a second Virginia-based GOP strategist.
Some Republicans took their anger out on the Indiana Legislature, where GOP lawmakers rejected White House pressure to draw a new map that would give them two additional red-leaning seats. Chris LaCivita, Trump’s former campaign co-manager and longtime Virginia-based GOP strategist, shared a social media post Tuesday Calling on Republicans in Indiana not to be more aggressive.
It is now too late for the state to redraw its lines, and Trump’s allies have spent time and millions of dollars trying to defeat GOP legislators who oppose the effort.
With most states off the table, Republicans now see DeSantis as one of their last and best chances to gain the upper hand before November. Florida’s governor delayed a special session to redistrict the state until after Virginia’s election, and he has not yet released a new map proposal.
Former Trump White House spokesman Harrison Fields urged Republicans in Florida to respond aggressively to the Virginia result.
Fields said in a statement, “To my friends in Tallahassee: In a state that is deeply red, it is time to respond to what we saw tonight in Virginia with a redistricting plan that reflects Florida’s true partisan leanings – and adds 3-4 GOP seats to our supermajority.” social media post. “Virginia is a purple state painted dark blue. Florida should draw a map that’s even more red – and get it passed ASAP.”
Not everyone is in favor of escalating a redistributive arms race. Rep. Kevin Kiley, an independent Republican who was targeted by supporters of California Democrats, said the result was further evidence that the redistricting battle should never have been started.
“It’s very unfortunate that it happened in Texas. I think it’s very unfortunate that it happened in California and Virginia and wherever else it’s happened,” Kiley told POLITICO after the Virginia race was announced Tuesday evening. “Now that this whole thing has gotten completely out of hand, there have been no winners, and it has created such instability, maybe it’s time we can come together and say, ‘Okay, enough is enough.'”
Yet despite all the blame for the Republicans’ defeat in the president’s redistricting campaign, one man largely escaped unscathed: Trump himself.
The president mostly remained on the sidelines until he hosted a tele-rally with Speaker Mike Johnson to urge people to vote “no” in the final hours of the race.
Some Republicans in the state were glad he stayed away, especially given his national reputation in the light blue state. Thirty-three percent of adults approve of Trump’s job performance, according to one AP-NORC poll released Tuesday
“If I were a Democrat, I would want to see Trump on the stump every day,” said Virginia-based Republican strategist Brian Kirwin.
Blake Jones contributed to this report.
