Republicans lost some ground after recent gubernatorial elections. Only one candidate from the Republican side won a major seat.
Republican John Curtis won his seat, the only upside for Republicans. After the losses Republicans made it very clear who they thought responsible.
The most talked about defeat was Ed Gillespie to Phil Murphy. Trump tweeted about why Gillespie lost. Some Republicans disagreed with his suggestion.
Gillespie opted not to campaign with Trump. This led to speculation on if he did the opposite would it make any difference.
Voting Blow
Tom Davis said “This is just an old fashioned thumping.” He was referring to Ed Gillespie lost.
Davis said “They have taken all of these guys out. The party is going to have to get right on immigration if they want to win in these areas.”
Trump tweeted “don’t forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!”
He had tweeted prior that Gillespie didn’t accept his style. Trump also tweeted “MS-13 and crime will be gone. Vote today, ASAP!”
Some believed that the loss would only cause further divide among Party members.
Steve Bannon talked about Gillespie’s strategy. Where there are establishment candidates, the lesson of Gillespie is Trumpism without Trump,” said Stephen Bannon.
“We now have forced the establishment to embrace our platform,” he claimed.
The results proved Bannon wrong unfortunately.
Change Republican Strategy
Rep. Steve King had some suggestions about what Republicans need. He said “Republicans need to say: ‘We support President Trump’s immigration policy and what he was inaugurated to do.”
“Voters are not blaming the President for what’s wrong in Washington. They’re blaming these Never-Trumpers who form a coalition with Democrats,” he continued.
Rep. Robert Scott said “hopefully people will take notice and run campaigns they can be proud of, and not the kind of campaign that Mr. Trump ran and Mr. Gillespie ran.”
This certainly seemed like Trumps way isn’t the right way for Republicans.
“We are still the same hollowed out party that Trump crushed,” Alex Castellanos said. “What Bill Clinton did for Democrats — the new Democrats — someone has to do for Republicans.”
Michael Steele “The lesson, and it’s a very important one, is you cannot wrap your policy, or your philosophy, in one person. You’ve got to stand for something.”
“Republicans have to put something on the table, if its tax reform, do tax reform. If it’s infrastructure, do infrastructure,” Steele said. “Let the President and his tweeting be the outlier.”
This election has caused more Republicans to speak out. Something that wasn’t evident before elections.