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Redistricting efforts blow up in Republicans’ faces amid historic House losses

Republicans who warned against redrawing congressional maps mid-decade say the strategy amounted to a costly overreach

By Elizabeth Elkind Fox News

Published November 4, 2026 1:00pm EST

Fox News provides live coverage of the 2026 midterm election results as the Democratic Party regained control of both congressional chambers.

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Republicans’ gambit to stave off election losses by changing congressional maps backfired in most of the country on Tuesday night.

Democrats swept both battleground House seats and areas considered safe GOP territory in an unprecedented midterm election performance, despite the best efforts by Republican-led states to redistrict in multiple states to give their party an edge.

“It was definitely the wrong move,” one House Republican told Fox News Digital. “One of the truisms in politics is never to overreach. We did and that was part of the reason for the backlash.”

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DEMOCRAT SEIZE HOUSE CONTROL IN STUNNING BLUE TSUNAMI, VOW RETRIBUTION AGAINST TRUMP ADMIN

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott arrives during a press conference for Eli Lilly and Company in Houston on Sept. 23, 2025.(Antranik Tavitian/Reuters)

Republicans in states that were particularly affected by redistricting had been warning their governors for months that it could be a bad idea, another person told Fox News Digital.

“It’s a bridge too far, and clearly the bridge blew up behind them,” that person said.

In Texas, where the GOP-led state government altered the congressional map to give Republicans an advantage in five districts, Democrats are projected to win at least three.

Reps. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, managed to hold onto their seats despite Republicans’ efforts, and Democrats also won the newly redrawn 35th Congressional District. The remaining two have not been called.

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Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, during a House Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies hearing in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2026.(Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

AMERICA SAW THE BLUE WAVE COMING — BUT DRASTICALLY UNDERESTIMATED THE EXTENT OF THE DEM TSUNAMI

Florida Republicans are on pace to lose all four House seats they drew to favor their party. Incumbent Reps. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., and Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., are projected to win their respective altered districts, along with political newcomer Pia Dandiya in her red-leaning seat.

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Rep. Darren Soto, D-Fla., who was expected to be hardest-hit by Sunshine State Republicans’ efforts, is narrowly leading in a race that’s still too close to call.

Overall, however, it’s worth noting that Florida was a bright spot for the GOP overall on Tuesday night. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., won the race for governor, and all Republican incumbents kept their seats.

Meanwhile, a push in Ohio to make districts held by Reps. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, and Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, more favorable to Republicans, also failed.

And in Alabama, Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala., won another term despite his seat also being altered to favor Republicans.

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Gov. Ron DeSantis holds a press conference at the State Emergency Operations Center regarding Hurricane Isaias on Oct. 8, 2026.(USA TODAY Network via Reuters)

The process of redistricting is traditionally done after a national census, to account for population shifts in each state.

Changing congressional maps mid-decade is a controversial move that saw bipartisan pushback — though both sides ultimately took part.

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On the left, California Gov. Gavin Newsom led his state through a referendum where voters chose to give the legislature the ability to change its own congressional map to give Democrats an edge where, it appears so far, they have one.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com

Florida Gov-elect Donalds believes ‘frustrations boiled over’ against Republicans on Election Day

Trump-backed House Republican tells ‘Fox & Friends’ that ‘gas prices are a major problem’

By Greg Norman-Diamond | Fox News

Published November 4, 2026 1:09pm EST

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Florida Gov.-elect Byron Donalds joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss his historic victory as the state’s first Black governor. Donalds explains his strategy for keeping Florida red, highlighting how residents fleeing blue states contributed to his campaign’s success. The Republican emphasizes his commitment to conservative policies and economic growth for all Floridians.

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Florida Governor-elect Byron Donalds told Fox News on Wednesday that he believes Americans’ frustrations about gas and diesel prices “boiled over” against Republicans on Election Day.

The Trump-backed Florida House Republican made the remark after being asked by “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade why he thinks so many people were unhappy with the first two years of the president’s second term. The Democrats took back control of the House and Senate during the midterms, including flipping governor seats in states such as Texas, Georgia and Ohio.

“I think, look, when you talk to people on the ground, gas prices are a major problem. I think people were looking at the price of gas, the price of diesel, and I think those frustrations boiled over,” Donalds said.

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“I also want to look at, you know, in the United States Senate, there were some opportunities I think that were missed: not passing a Save America Act, not getting some of the key policies done, like putting through President Trump’s border security packages and codifying that into law. I think that stuff frustrated Republicans,” he continued.

“I think if you not just look in Florida, but look around the country, what I’m starting to see is that we have a lot of Republicans who either did not vote or decided to go and vote for Democrats. And I think there’s a frustration out there that we have a responsibility to address,” Donalds added. “And that’s something I’ll be talking about with my colleagues on Capitol Hill when I get back during this lame duck session. We’re also going to be laser-focused on that here in Florida moving forward.”

TRUMP-BACKED BYRON DONALDS MAKES HISTORY AS FLORIDA’S FIRST BLACK GOVERNOR

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., speaks at an election night event Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Hollywood, Fla.(Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

Donalds attributed his success in the Sunshine State to a robust ground game, noting that his campaign knocked on over 2.2 million doors and centering his election effort “on the issues that mattered to Floridians: insurance costs, housing costs, making sure kids were getting the best education possible.”

“I got to give a thanks to the people of Florida all throughout the state for supporting us. The people in the Panhandle, the Panhandle once again kept Florida as a conservative state. So we’re very grateful to the voters in the Panhandle,” Donalds told “Fox & Friends.”

DEMOCRAT GINA HINOJOSA STUNS ABBOTT, MAKES HISTORY AS FIRST LATINA TEXAS GOVERNOR

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Florida Republican candidate for lieutenant governor Bryan Avila celebrates with Republican gubernatorial candidate Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and Erika Donalds at an election night event Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Hollywood, Fla.(Rebecca Blackwell/AP)

“But we also want to talk to all the people of Florida. We have a mission. The campaign was not talking points. We are going to make Florida more affordable for the people of our state. We’re going to make sure that our kids can achieve their Florida dream here in Florida,” he added. “It was a tough fought victory last night. But we were able to win and be decisive. And now we get to the job of making sure that our state works for everybody.”

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Donalds made history by becoming the first Black politician to win a gubernatorial election in Florida and the first Black Republican in the nation’s history to be elected governor.

Donalds, a three-term representative from Southwest Florida, defeated Democratic rival former Rep. David Jolly.

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Rep. Byron Donalds gestures to President Donald Trump as he speaks during an election rally at Alico Arena on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus on Oct. 23, 2026, in Fort Myers, Fla. Trump traveled to Florida to rally for local Republican candidates ahead of next week’s midterm elections.(Getty Images)

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Donalds was endorsed by Trump in February of last year before he even formally launched his campaign for governor.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6407906079112

Iran takes a victory lap over stunning US election results, claims ‘collapse has accelerated’

Top Iranian negotiator declares Americans voted ‘no to war’ as Republicans suffered sweeping midterm losses

By Morgan Phillips | Fox News

Published November 4, 2026 12:43pm EST

Julian Epstein: The failure of the Iran war was the communications around it

A ‘FOX News Democracy 26’ panel discusses the impact of the war in Iran on the 2026 midterm elections, the Trump administration’s messaging on the conflict and more.

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Democrats weren’t the only ones celebrating amid shattering defeats for Republicans in the midterm elections — Iranian leaders also took a victory lap Wednesday.

Iran cast the results — where Democrats made gains even in traditional Republican strongholds — as a rejection of President Donald Trump’s war and a decisive referendum on the economic toll it took on American voters in the months before the election.

“The process of the US’s collapse has accelerated,” Iran’s current Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, posted on an official English language account on X.

“Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has also served as Tehran’s chief negotiator in talks with Washington, posted on X.

STATE OF PLAY: BLUE WAVE SWEEPS DEMOCRATS INTO POWER, WITH KEY RACES STILL HANGING IN BALANCE

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In this picture obtained from Iran’s ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019.(Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images)

“If the US govt betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare,” Ghalibaf added.

Khamenei, meanwhile, appeared to signal Iran would dig in its heels rather than negotiate with the U.S.

“The Great Satan [the US] wants the surrender of the Iranian nation. The slightest inclination toward submission would cause the immense capital acquired through the blessings brought by the blood of our martyrs and the sacrifices of the entire Iranian nation to be lost,” he wrote in another post on X.

“It would embolden the enemy to launch more wars, and carry out its next acts of aggression.”

The declarations came after Democrats seized control of Congress Tuesday night in a political bloodbath for Republicans, delivering a major rebuke to Trump after a campaign dominated by concerns over affordability and the months-long war with Iran that the president repeatedly promised was nearing its end.

When the attacks began earlier this year, Trump said it would last a weeks — maybe a bit over a month. It has now been raging for more than eight months.

TRUMP CALLS IRAN CONFLICT A ‘SOFT WAR,’ INSISTS US HOLDS THE CARDS AHEAD OF MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Iran was hardly the only issue driving voters to the polls — but the conflict became increasingly intertwined with Americans’ economic concerns as the war sent energy prices higher and impacted the costs of gas and most goods.

Polling ahead of Election Day showed deep public dissatisfaction with the Iran conflict.

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Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 27, 2024.(Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)

Trump himself acknowledged after the results came in that Iran “partly” played a role in Republicans’ losses, even as he continued to defend his decision to go to war.

Vice President JD Vance was much more blunt, writing in a lengthy X post: “The reason we lost is the war.”

“If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so,” he continued. “Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.”

Other voices in Tehran also claimed vindication in the wake of the results.

TRUMP ADMIN THREATENS IRAN WITH ‘CONSEQUENCES’ AS ALLIES CONVENE AMID THREATS OF POST-ELECTION ESCALATION

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President Donald Trump

Iranian Deputy Parliament Speaker Ali Nikzad called the Republican losses the “aftershocks” of what he described as Trump’s defeat at the hands of Iran, while a senior official in Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s office claimed the war and U.S. support for Israel had brought Republicans an historic electoral defeat.

Trump entered the conflict predicting a short war.

In the opening days of Operation Epic Fury, the president repeatedly said the campaign would take roughly four to six weeks and soon declared U.S. forces were running “substantially ahead” of schedule. American and Israeli strikes quickly eliminated senior Iranian military leaders and battered Tehran’s military infrastructure.

But the war proved far easier to start than to end.

Iran retaliated by choking commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that before the war carried roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply, while launching attacks on energy infrastructure across the Persian Gulf. Shipping through the strait nearly ground to a halt in the early weeks of the conflict, removing millions of barrels of oil from global markets and sending energy prices sharply higher.

Iranian attacks damaged oil and energy facilities in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf, further squeezing supplies. By the end of May, more than 1.1 billion barrels of crude that would ordinarily have reached global markets had been disrupted, according to the International Monetary Fund.

THE OVERLOOKED WAY THE IRAN WAR IS MAKING GROCERIES, AMAZON PACKAGES AND NEW HOMES MORE EXPENSIVE

What Trump initially described as a matter of weeks instead stretched across much of 2026, as the administration struggled to secure lasting freedom of navigation through Hormuz and Iran retained the ability to threaten commercial shipping and its Gulf neighbors.

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A satellite image shows the Strait of Hormuz, a key maritime passage connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman, vital for global energy supply.(Amanda Macias/Fox News Digital)

The economic consequences followed Americans home.

Oil prices surged after the war began, feeding through to gasoline and other consumer costs just as Republicans headed into a midterm election already dominated by concerns over affordability.

Even after U.S.-led operations restored much of the traffic through Hormuz by the fall, oil flows remained below prewar levels and Iran continued attacking commercial vessels.

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The prolonged conflict also complicated Trump’s effort to argue that the war had already accomplished its central objectives. By October, the president was disputing that he had ever promised the entire conflict would end within four to six weeks, saying that timeline referred only to eliminating Iran’s nuclear threat.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/iran-victory-lap-stunning-us-election-results-claims-collapse-accelerated

GOP’s midterm defeat sparks bold claims from foreign leaders who’ve clashed with Trump

European Parliament Vice President Christel Schaldemose said she feels ‘cautiously optimistic on Europe’s behalf’ after vote

By Ireland Owens Fox News

Published November 4, 2026 2:11pm EST

Democrats’ agenda takes center stage after midterms

Chief congressional correspondent Chad Pergram joins ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss the progressive agenda after Democrats sweep the midterms.

The GOP’s sweeping midterm losses are drawing a positive response from several foreign leaders who have clashed with President Donald Trump, with some expressing hope that Democrats’ victories could lead to a shift in U.S. policy on major global issues.

Democrats secured majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in Tuesday’s elections, setting the stage for a shift in congressional power in January and prompting reactions from officials in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took aim at Trump’s policies in a Wednesday X post, suggesting that American voters had rejected the president’s political agenda and predicting that a similar shift would soon take place in Spain.

“Yesterday, American society voted against policies that only make people poorer,” Sánchez wrote. “Against hate. Against sexism. Against climate denial and against elite privilege.”

AMERICA SAW THE BLUE WAVE COMING — BUT DRASTICALLY UNDERESTIMATED THE EXTENT OF THE DEM TSUNAMI

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BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 03: A voter marks their ballot in the Kern County Elections Office on November 03, 2026 in Bakersfield, California. Americans go to the polls in consequential midterm elections, where control of the House and the Senate is at stake for the remainder of President Donald Trump’s second term in office.(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Sánchez has been an outspoken critic of U.S. and Israeli military operations against Iran, accusing Washington in March of “playing Russian roulette” with millions of lives. His opposition to the war and disputes with Trump over NATO defense spending have contributed to tensions between Madrid and Washington.

“We are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and is also contrary to our values and interests, just out of fear of reprisals from someone,” Sánchez said.

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Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón arrives at Huis ten Bosch Palace for a dinner hosted by the King and Queen of The Netherlands during the NATO Summit 2025 on June 24, 2025 in The Hague, Netherlands.(Patrick van Katwijk/Getty Images)

“Wild result in the USA last night! I’m cautiously optimistic on Europe’s behalf,” European Parliament Vice President Christel Schaldemose wrote in a Wednesday X post. “Not because everything now changes for the better, but because it could benefit the support for Ukraine, the green transition, and relations with the rest of the world.”

Schaldemose criticized Trump’s interest in Greenland in January 2025, also suggesting that Europeans should “stand up for ourselves both in terms of the economy the global economy but also in terms of digital policy and the climate.”

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Britain’s newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham delivers a speech outside 10 Downing Street after taking office, in London, Britain, July 20, 2026.(REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja)

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday that the election results presented an opportunity for world leaders to work together to ease cost-of-living pressures and resolve the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Sky News reported.

“Well, President Trump has accepted the results, and I feel the world has an opportunity now to unite around the issue that is affecting us all – and that’s the cost-of-living,” Burnham said. “That has been the issue that I have put front and centre in my first three months in Downing Street, and we’ve made moves, but I can’t get people’s cost of living pressures down until the conflict in the Middle East is resolved.”

Trump said in July that he had a “very good” conversation with Burnham about trade and security issues, although the two governments have since differed over Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank. In September, Britain announced plans to strengthen sanctions targeting settlements and prevent British companies from assisting settlement construction, drawing criticism from U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

Americans have been grappling with higher costs as the war in Iran has caused energy prices to surge. The U.S. affordability crisis was a major issue for voters heading into this year’s midterms.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad ‌Baqer Ghalibaf claimed in a Wednesday social media post that U.S. voters “said NO TO WAR” amid cost-of-living concerns.

“Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message,” Ghalibaf said, according to the Independent. “If the US govt betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare.”

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Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara emphasized during a Wednesday press conference that the Japan-U.S. alliance “remains the cornerstone of Japan’s foreign and security policy regardless of the outcome of the elections,” Kyodo News reported.

Additionally, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters on Wednesday that he thinks the Democratic Party’s victory in the midterms will “introduce a new era in world relations,” Reuters reported.

Trump confronted Ramaphosa during a May 2025 White House meeting, playing video footage that he claimed showed evidence of widespread violence against White South African farmers. Ramaphosa disputed Trump’s allegations of persecution, while subsequent fact-checks found that some of the footage had been mischaracterized.

Trump claimed in a Tuesday night Truth Social post that if his name appeared on the ballot in the 2026 midterms the GOP would have “won IN A LANDSLIDE!”

Trump nevertheless congratulated Democrats on their victories and expressed a willingness to work with the incoming congressional majorities, while emphasizing that he would retain the power to veto legislation he opposes.

“They’ll send over things that are insane, and I’ll veto them,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Tuesday night, adding that the two parties would eventually have to work together to get legislation passed.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6407913822112

DeSantis calls GOP midterm losses ‘extinction level event’ — and explains why Florida survived

Florida’s outgoing governor highlighted his state as a Republican bright spot after losses in Texas, Ohio and Georgia

By Charles Creitz Fox News

Published November 4, 2026 2:10pm EST

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sounded off Wednesday on Republicans’ massive nationwide losses, while analysts consider whether his vocal responses are positioning him for a nationwide run.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Wednesday that Republicans have been nearly wiped out nationally after devastating election losses, while highlighting his state as the lone remaining GOP stronghold among the 10 most populous states as speculation builds about his political future in 2028.

Tuesday was an otherwise brutal night for the GOP, as the Trump movement faces major questions amid setbacks in longtime Republican strongholds such as Kansas and Texas, while holding Senate seats in West Virginia and deep-red Wyoming and South Dakota.

“This is close to an extinction level event for Republicans … out of the ten largest states in this union, only one state will have Republican control of their state, the state of Florida,” DeSantis said at a Wednesday news conference, where he also highlighted Florida as the lone bright spot on Republicans’ map of the nation’s largest states.

DEMOCRATS SEIZE MAJORITY OF GOVERNORS’ OFFICES IN ELECTION-NIGHT SHIFT

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DEMS SEIZE THE SENATE AS BLUE TIDAL WAVE CRASHES DEEP INTO TRUMP COUNTRY, TOPPLES GOP STRONGHOLDS

“We’ve built up a record of achievement. We’ve earned trust from a number of our voters that even in the worst situation that you can imagine politically we were able to hold the line,” DeSantis added.

Fox News Digital reached out to DeSantis for comment.

Orlando-based political strategist and pollster Doug Kaplan told Fox News Digital that DeSantis appears to be eyeing a lasting role on the national stage.

“I think last night was a big night for DeSantis. If you’re looking at winners on the Republican side, then I think he’s found his lane if he wants to run for president in 2028.,” he said.

Kaplan characterized DeSantis’ comments as an “opening salvo” in an effort to distance himself from the Trump-led status quo in the Republican Party, though he acknowledged the staying power of Trump’s MAGA movement among GOP primary voters.

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DeSantis also highlighted his own push for the election-cycle buzzword “affordability” in Florida.

Amendment 3 passed with about 62% of the vote Tuesday. It increases homestead property tax exemptions from $50,000 to $250,000 by 2028.

“The existence of Amendment 3 on the ballot is one of the reasons Florida averted the fate of other red states. It drew more voters to the polls,” DeSantis said, highlighting an issue on which Republicans still won decisively.

Kaplan predicted Vice President JD Vance and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, may also follow DeSantis’ tack. Both men saw their party take major losses in their home states, he noted, citing Vance’s former Senate seat going to Democrat Sherrod Brown.

DeSantis highlighted losses in Cruz’s home state but did not reference the senator: “Texas has been the most significant Republican state this century. A Democrat sweep of statewide races — and possible capture of the legislature — takes away one of the anchors of the modern GOP. A huge loss,” DeSantis said, echoing his point that Florida remains the only one of the 10 most populous states with a Republican governor.

AMERICA SAW THE BLUE WAVE COMING — BUT DRASTICALLY UNDERESTIMATED THE EXTENT OF THE DEM TSUNAMI

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at Florida International University alongside Jared Purdue, head of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, on Aug. 26, 2026, in Miami, Fla.(Al Diaz/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

He pointed to stunning upsets that included Kansas, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and potentially Mississippi — which hasn’t elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since Segregationist Sen. John Stennis’ last term in the 1980s.

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“If Mississippi goes down, that will give Dems 56 Senate seats,” DeSantis said, as the Magnolia State emerged as perhaps the biggest surprise of the morning, with Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith trailing Scott Colom, a Democratic state district judge from Lowndes County, by about one-tenth of 1% in a race most Republicans didn’t even have on their radar.

Former Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican whose now-Democrat-run city maintained a 3-1 Republican advantage in its congressional delegation, credited DeSantis with helping set the stage:

“We had a great outcome, right? And I think the 1.5 million-vote registration advantage that Governor DeSantis took four years to build was actually the firewall that prevented Florida from going down the same path as Texas or Michigan,” Suarez told Fox Business’ “Big Money in the Morning” on Wednesday.

“Republicans need to simplify their message. They need to be message discipline like Democrats were in this cycle. And then they got to find young, articulate, attractive candidates like the Democrats have found.”

Speaking with “Straight Shooter” host Stephen A. Smith on Election Night, DeSantis similarly argued that voters supported conservative policies on some ballot measures while rejecting Republican candidates, suggesting a disconnect between the party’s agenda and its appeal to voters.

Former senior Senate advisor and political strategist Mary Marslender told Fox News Digital that DeSantis is doing what any successful governor would in this scenario.

“He’s taking a victory lap on a winning record. That doesn’t means he’s distancing himself from Trump or the MAGA movement. DeSantis successfully focused on state-level results: tax relief, public safety, and electoral success all while underscoring Florida’s position as a reliable conservative stronghold,” Marslender said.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks with President Donald Trump as he arrives at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Fla., on Oct. 23, 2026.(Reuters)

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“If congressional members in Washington could have done the same, we would have seen a very different outcome these midterms. We should expect to hear more from DeSantis on Florida’s proven results and his approach to governance in the run up to 2028.”

For DeSantis, who will leave office in January after his unsuccessful 2024 presidential bid, the question is whether Florida’s success will remain a state-level victory lap or become the foundation for a renewed national political role ahead of 2028.

Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, worked in both the New York and Washington bureaus for Fox News since 2013.

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6407906079112

Fox News Voter Poll: 2026 midterm elections usher in a blue wave as Democrats win control of Congress

2026-11-04T12:10:00-05:00 / Fox News

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6407895132112

Pollster Justin Wallin joins ‘Fox & Friends First’ to analyze the significant midterm election results as Democrats take control of the House and Senate. Wallin breaks down key races, including James Talarico defeating Ken Paxton in the Texas Senate showdown.

In a historic midterm election, Democrats swept both the House and Senate, riding a blue wave spurred by widespread voter discontent. The economy, government corruption, war in Iran and increasingly negative views of President Donald Trump’s job performance created a perfect storm for Democrats to flip Senate seats in Republican stronghold states.

At the time of publication, Democrats held a 54-seat majority in the Senate and have secured 228 seats in the House. The toss-up Senate race in Alaska remains too close to call at this time.

The Fox News Voter Poll surveyed more than 100,000 registered voters nationwide from Oct. 19 to Nov. 3, 2026, combining online and telephone interviews with in-person surveys of Election Day voters.

After the strong rightward shifts in the 2024 election, this year’s midterms marked a turn back to the left. The electorate remained divided by community type, gender and education, a pattern that has become commonplace in recent elections. Suburban and urban voters, women and Hispanics sided with Democrats, while rural voters, men and voters without a college degree favored Republicans.

STATE OF PLAY: BLUE WAVE SWEEPS DEMOCRATS INTO POWER, WITH KEY RACES STILL HANGING IN BALANCE

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into the demographic behind Democratic votes.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into the demographic behind Republican votes.(Fox News)

Groups that helped power Trump’s 2024 win — namely rural, Hispanic, young and independent voters — moved decidedly toward Democrats.

DEMOCRAT SEIZE HOUSE CONTROL IN STUNNING BLUE TSUNAMI, VOW RETRIBUTION AGAINST TRUMP ADMIN

A pivotal group in his win, rural voters backed Trump by 28 points in 2024. That advantage dropped by 10 points, to just 18 points in favor of Republican House candidates.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how rural voters cast their ballots in the House elections.(Fox News)

Republicans underperformed among rural women. After Trump carried them by 21 points in 2024, Republican House candidates led among them by 8 points this year, a 13-point decline.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how rural women voted in the House elections.(Fox News)

At the same time, suburban women marched firmly toward Democrats. Harris won them by a 14-point margin, and they broke for Democratic House candidates by 24 points.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how suburban women voted in the House elections.(Fox News)

That shift extended beyond community divides. Hispanic voters, who showed surprising support for Trump two years ago, backed Democratic House candidates by 27 points, after breaking for Harris by just 12 points. This was driven largely by Hispanic men, who after narrowly voting for Harris by 2 points in 2024, sided with the Democrats by 15 points.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into voting patterns among Hispanic voters.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how Hispanic men voted in the House elections.(Fox News)

Young voters also followed a similar pattern. Often considered a reliable Democratic voting bloc, those under age 30 defied conventional wisdom and narrowly backed Harris by 4 points in 2024. Now, they backed Democratic House candidates by nearly 3-to-1.

‘LAWYER UP’: DEMS IMMEDIATELY PUT TRUMP ON NOTICE AMID REPUBLICANS’ MIDTERM BLOODBATH

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how voters under age 30 cast their ballots.(Fox News)

Young men made a complete reversal in their party preference, going from a 15-point margin for Trump to a 33-point margin for the Democratic House candidates, a 48-point swing.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how young men voted in the House elections.(Fox News)

Slightly more Democrats than Republicans backed their party’s House candidates.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how Democrats voted in the House elections.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how Republicans voted in the House elections.(Fox News)

While there was a small amount of defections on the right, the bigger move came from the middle. Independents backed Democratic candidates by 22 points, a 16-point shift from 2024, when they backed Harris by just 6 points.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how independent voters cast their ballots in the House elections.(Fox News)

Within the Republican Party, the divide between MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans widened. A narrow majority of Republicans (54%) considered themselves MAGA, and they voted almost unanimously for Republican candidates (99%). Fewer non-MAGA Republicans stayed with their party (85%).

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans voted in the House elections.(Fox News)

Beyond the demographic shifts, this was an election cycle marked by voter pessimism, economic frustration and disillusionment with the Republican brand.

Voters cast their ballots with a bleak view of the country in their minds. Three-quarters said they felt dissatisfied or angry about how things were going, while just a quarter were satisfied or enthusiastic.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how Americans feel about the direction of the country.(Fox News)

The anger divides along partisan lines: more than 6 in 10 Democrats were angry with how things were going, compared with 1 in 10 Republicans and more than a third of independents. This is a reversal from the 2022 midterms, when roughly half of Republicans were angry, compared with 15% of Democrats and 27% of independents.

Frustration with the present extended into the future. Half said they expected life for the next generation to be worse than life today, twice the share who expected it to be better.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into voters’ expectations for the next generation of Americans.(Fox News)

Voters took those frustrations out on the president. Trump’s job approval stood at 38%-62%, a net rating of -24, and that disapproval was intense. More than half strongly disapproved of his job performance, double the number who strongly approved.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how voters rate President Donald Trump’s job performance.(Fox News)

Eight years ago, at the midterm point in his first term, his job approval rating was a stronger 44%-56%, a net rating of just -12.

Even without Trump on the ballot, he was on the minds of many Americans. More said they cast their House vote to express opposition to him than to support him, nearly a 3-to-1 margin.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how President Donald Trump influenced voters’ House election decisions.(Fox News)

Part of that opposition came from a sense that Trump did not understand what voters were going through. More voters said Trump prioritized his own personal interests than the country’s.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals whether voters believe President Donald Trump prioritizes his own interests or those of the country.(Fox News)

They also gave him low marks on personal traits. More than 6 in 10 said he lacked the right priorities and did not fight for people like them. Narrow majorities said he was not a strong leader and lacked the mental capability to serve effectively.

The president’s standing was also a drag on his party. Two years after winning unified control of Washington, the Republican Party was -18 points underwater, a -15-point slide from its net rating of -3 in 2024.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how voters view the Republican Party.(Fox News)

The Democratic Party was unpopular as well, but its net rating held nearly steady, from -7 to -6.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how voters view the Democratic Party.(Fox News)

Each party’s voters were about equally loyal: nearly all Republicans and Democrats viewed their own party favorably. Independents were more favorable toward the Democrats, with 42% viewing the Democratic Party favorably, while they rated the Republican Party negatively by about 2-to-1.

Views of the party also tracked the views of its leader. Democrats were nearly unanimous in their disapproval of Trump, while about 8 in 10 Republicans approved. Roughly 7 in 10 independents viewed the president unfavorably.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into President Donald Trump’s job approval among Democrats.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into President Donald Trump’s job approval among Republicans.(Fox News)

Two years ago, voters gave the Republicans a chance to bring prices down. This year, they said tariffs, inflation and a war in Iran pushed costs higher, and they used this election to call for change.

The effects of inflation were inescapable for the majority, including 1 in 5 who called that hardship severe.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how inflation has affected American families.(Fox News)

Three-quarters rated the economy negatively, a stark reversal from this point in Trump’s first term, when positive ratings outnumbered negative ones by 2-to-1, as shown in the 2018 Fox News Voter Analysis survey (66% positive, 34% negative).

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into voters’ assessments of the U.S. economy.(Fox News)

Almost 7 in 10 of voters who gave the economy a negative rating voted for the Democrats. Among those with a positive economic outlook, Republicans were favored.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how voters with a negative view of the economy voted in the House elections.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how voters with a positive view of the economy voted in the House elections.(Fox News)

Within the household budget, concerns about prices varied little across categories. The cost of gas and diesel was at the top, a worry that followed the Iran war and its effect on fuel prices. Healthcare and groceries were right behind, and a majority were very concerned about utilities.

https://news-multimedia-1393112320.cos.ap-guangzhou.myqcloud.com/poll-national-concerned-gas-prices.jpgnext The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into Americans’ concerns about rising household expenses.(Fox News)

https://news-multimedia-1393112320.cos.ap-guangzhou.myqcloud.com/poll-national-concerned-healthcare.jpgprev next The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into Americans’ concerns about rising household expenses.(Fox News)

https://news-multimedia-1393112320.cos.ap-guangzhou.myqcloud.com/poll-national-concerned-food-prices.jpgprev next The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into Americans’ concerns about rising household expenses.(Fox News)

https://news-multimedia-1393112320.cos.ap-guangzhou.myqcloud.com/poll-national-concerned-utility-costs.jpgprev The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into Americans’ concerns about rising household expenses.(Fox News)

Voters’ views on Iran were closely linked to fuel costs. In general, about 6 in 10 believed the U.S. made the wrong decision in taking military action, and they backed the Democratic House candidate. Nearly all voters who called it the right decision supported Republicans.

In an exclusive survey by Fox News and NORC at the University of Chicago, voters were asked about various priorities regarding the Iran war. The survey of approximately 3,000 registered voters was conducted Nov. 1–3 by phone and online using NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel.

More than two-thirds said it was very important to avoid a prolonged conflict in Iran, while half said the same about stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Ultimately, gas prices took priority over security threats. When asked to choose, nearly twice as many voters preferred ending military involvement to bring down gas prices as preferred restarting military action to stop nuclear weapons development.

More than 8 in 10 Democrats favored ending the conflict to bring down gas prices, as did around 6 in 10 independents. The same share of Republicans, 6 in 10, favored restarting military action. Still, just over half of Republicans saw it as very important to avoid a prolonged conflict in the region, as did a majority of Democrats and independents.

When it comes to higher-than-usual prices, voters were considerably more likely to point to Trump’s policies than to factors outside his control.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals whether voters blame President Donald Trump’s policies for higher prices.(Fox News)

A majority said his policies had made conditions in the U.S. worse, while fewer said they improved conditions.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how voters believe President Donald Trump’s policies have affected the economy.(Fox News)

Tariffs were a central piece of that blame. About two-thirds said Trump’s tariffs hurt the national economy and nearly as many said they hurt the economy in their own area. About 2 in 10 said tariffs helped the national economy, and even fewer said they helped locally.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how voters believe President Donald Trump’s tariffs have affected the national economy.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how voters believe President Donald Trump’s tariffs have affected their local economies.(Fox News)

While families wrestled with high prices, voters felt Trump was more focused on his own interests than the people he serves. That frustration extended to the economic system itself: nearly 7 in 10 said it favored the wealthy.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals whether voters believe the U.S. economic system favors the wealthy.(Fox News)

Yet that skepticism coexisted with support for capitalism. More than half of voters viewed capitalism favorably, far more than the third who viewed socialism favorably. Voters liked the idea of the system but doubted how it worked for them.

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The Fox News Voter Poll found that 32% of registered voters had an unfavorable view of capitalism, while 57% had a favorable view.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll found that 54% of registered voters had an unfavorable view of socialism, while 33% had a favorable view.(Fox News)

Government corruption and the cost of living were the two main drivers of the vote, with roughly half calling each crucial. Immigration and the Iran war followed closely, each crucial for more than a third, with AI and data centers further back. Democrats were the favored party among voters who said corruption, costs, Iran and AI were crucial to their vote, while Republicans held their edge with voters focused on immigration.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals which issues voters considered crucial to their House election decisions.(Fox News)

Frustration with costs and corruption was reflected in how voters saw the state of the country. The economy topped the list of issues facing the country, narrowly ahead of the state of democracy. Immigration came in a distant third, followed by healthcare, foreign policy and crime.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into which issues voters consider most important to the country.(Fox News)

The prominence of democracy came mainly from Democrats, who named the state of democracy as their top issue (48%), ahead of the economy (36%). Independents put the economy first (39%), with democracy close behind (34%). Republicans ranked democracy third (16%), behind the economy (41%) and immigration (27%).

Voters who named democracy and the economy as their top issue backed Democratic House candidates, while voters who prioritized immigration backed Republicans.

Democrats also held an advantage when it came to which party would do a better job handling six of the eight issues tested, though often by modest margins. Their largest edge was on healthcare, followed by transgender policies.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals which political party voters trust more to handle healthcare.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into which political party voters trust more to handle transgender policies.(Fox News)

On the economy — the issue voters saw as the most important facing the country — Democrats led by 6 points, similar to their margins on foreign policy (+5).

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals which political party voters trust more to handle the economy.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into which political party voters trust more to handle foreign policy.(Fox News)

On government corruption, voters narrowly favored Democrats, but a third did not trust either party to handle one of the top issues facing the country.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals which political party voters trust more to address government corruption.(Fox News)

Republicans led only on immigration, with a 3-point lead. The parties ran even on taxes and finished within two points of each other on AI.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into which political party voters trust more to handle immigration.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals which political party voters trust more to handle taxes.(Fox News)

On healthcare, concern about costs was widespread, and those voters backed the Democratic House candidates. A clear majority favored a bigger federal role in helping Americans get care.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how voters view the federal government’s role in helping Americans access healthcare.(Fox News)

Consequently, they gave the Trump administration poor marks on the issue, with majorities saying its policies made it harder to get the care they needed and made their own costs worse.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how voters believe Trump administration policies have affected healthcare costs.(Fox News)

On AI, voters approached this new political issue with wariness. A majority said it would do more to hurt society, a consensus reached by Democrats, Republicans and independents alike, while a quarter said it would do more to help. Among partisans, Republicans were the most likely to say AI would have a positive impact on society, at 33%.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals whether voters believe artificial intelligence will help or hurt society.(Fox News)

At this point, neither party had a clear advantage on the issue: AI drew the highest share, choosing neither party as better able to handle it, and the two parties finished within 2 points of each other, with Democrats narrowly pulling ahead.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into which political party voters trust more to handle artificial intelligence.(Fox News)

Data center construction drew a similar verdict. Three-quarters of voters opposed a new data center in their community. Those who opposed one backed the Democratic House candidates by 28 points, while those in favor backed Republicans by 45 points.

Among rural voters, data centers had emerged as a defining issue. They also split 3-to-1 in opposition to building one in their community.

On immigration, Republicans were favored to handle, but voters delivered a verdict of overreach on enforcement. A majority said the Trump administration’s actions had gone too far, with the rest split between about right and not far enough.

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how voters assess the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.(Fox News)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement received mostly negative marks, with a majority of voters disapproving of its job performance. Most voters viewed immigrants favorably, saying they do more to help the country than to hurt it.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how voters rate Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s job performance.(Fox News)

Ratings of the institutions themselves were low. Congress drew approval from roughly a quarter, and the Supreme Court drew approval from about 4 in 10.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals how voters rate Congress’ job performance.(Fox News)

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The Fox News Voter Poll offers insight into how voters rate the Supreme Court’s job performance.(Fox News)

Voters wanted a stronger Congress. A majority said Congress was not doing enough to provide checks and balances on the presidency, and those voters backed Democratic House candidates by 49 points.

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The Fox News Voter Poll reveals whether voters believe Congress is doing enough to provide checks and balances on the presidency.(Fox News)

The Fox News Voter Poll is a survey conducted by SSRS with more than 100,000 registered voters nationwide. This survey was conducted Oct. 19 to Nov. 3, 2026, concluding at the end of voting on Election Day. The poll combines data collected from registered voters online and by telephone with data collected in-person from Election Day voters at precincts across the country. In the final step, all the pre-election survey respondents and Election Day exit poll respondents are combined by adjusting the share of voting mode (absentee, early-in-person and Election Day) based on the estimated composition of the national electorate. Once votes are counted, the survey results are also weighted to match the national election results. Results among all registered voters interviewed nationwide have an estimated margin of sampling error of plus or minus 0.5 percentage points, including the design effects. The error margin is larger among subgroups. Full methodological details are available here.

The Fox News/NORC AmeriSpeak Study is a national survey of registered voters conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. This survey was conducted Nov. 1–3, 2026, concluding as polls close on Election Day. The poll is based on a random sample of approximately 3,000 registered voters drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, interviewed online and by telephone in English and Spanish. Survey weights adjust to population totals for demographic and geographic characteristics, as well as voter-specific information including partisanship, and, once votes are counted, the results are weighted to the national popular vote for the House of Representatives. Results among all 3,464 registered voters interviewed nationwide have an estimated margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, including the design effects. The error margin is larger among subgroups.

As head of the polling unit, Dana Blanton runs the Fox News Poll and oversees the Fox News Voter Analysis election survey.

Florida DeSantis describes GOP midterms wipeout as ‘close to an extinction-level event’ for Republicans

Outgoing Florida governor says ‘Democrats are unpopular’ and results were a ‘rejection of Republicans in Washington’

By Greg Norman-Diamond | Fox News

Published November 4, 2026 1:48pm EST

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sounded off Wednesday on Republicans’ massive nationwide losses, while analysts consider whether his vocal responses are positioning him for a nationwide run.

NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Outgoing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that the Republican losses in the midterm elections are “close to an extinction-level event” for the party “in many parts of the country, as we have seen probably in the last 100 years.”

DeSantis spoke after Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate on Election Day. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida House Republican, won the contest for DeSantis’ seat despite other GOP candidates losing their gubernatorial races around the U.S.

“Here’s the thing. Democrats are unpopular. They were able to win based off the sentiment that exists in the country right now. They did not earn a mandate to indulge all their left-wing fantasies. And they’re going to be in there governing, and we’ll see what ends up happening,” DeSantis said.

“But this was not a positive view of the Democrats. This was a rejection of Republicans in Washington,” he added. “And Democrats just happened to be the beneficiary.”

TRUMP-BACKED BYRON DONALDS MAKES HISTORY AS FLORIDA’S FIRST BLACK GOVERNOR

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Gov. Ron DeSantis holds a press conference regarding Hurricane Isaias on Oct. 8, 2026.(USA Today Network via Reuters)

DeSantis, who has not ruled out a 2028 presidential bid, said, “In January, when everyone in office leaves, who were either term-limited or got voted out of the 10 largest states in this union, only one state will have Republican control of their state, the state of Florida.

“Last night we witnessed — to call it a wave, I don’t think would be fully accurate — it’s the political equivalent of a meteor strike that went all around the United States. Blue states, red states, everything in between,” DeSantis said. “And the one state that was able to hold the line and withstand that is right here in the free state of Florida.

“If you look at our chief rival, in a healthy sense, the state of Texas, and I would say over my lifetime, Texas has been the crown jewel of Republican politics. I think we’ve been the leader for Republicans and conservatives since I’ve been governor. But if you go over the whole generation, no one holds a candle on the Republican side to the Lone Star State. And yet, not only did they lose a very highly publicized U.S. Senate race, they lost everything,” DeSantis continued.

BLUE WAVE SWEEPS DEMOCRATS INTO POWER

https://www.foxnews.com/video/6407906079112

“The governor, attorney general, all the other statewide. They lost four Republican Supreme Court justices on the Texas Supreme Court. They may even lose the Texas Legislature or one house or even both. Let’s just be clear that that is going to hurt, not just for the next two years. That’s something that can reverberate for the next decade or more,” he also said. “And if the Republican Party doesn’t have Texas as an anchor, then we are not going to be viable nationally going forward.”

DeSantis predicted that in the 2028 election cycle, “You are not, as Republicans, going to be able to retake the Senate under this current map just two years from now.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks with President Donald Trump as he arrives at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Fla., on Oct. 23, 2026.(Reuters)

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“And with all the House seats that have been done, probably not viable to take that back as well. So this is really going to have an impact,” DeSantis added. “Two years, four years, six years, maybe even longer before Republicans could exercise unified control in Washington again like we’ve enjoyed over the last two years.”

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

Trump asking advisers if Hegseth should stay after midterm losses, sources say

Updated on: November 4, 2026 / 1:45 PM EST / CBS News

Washington — President Trump has been asking advisers around him and on the phone whether Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should stay in his job, following Republicans’ catastrophic losses Tuesday night, multiple sources familiar with the matter tell CBS News.

Some White House aides have predicted some of the blame for GOP midterm losses will be trained on Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine, who both played big roles in guidance on the Iran war.

Still, other sources said the president hasn’t decided to replace Hegseth. Before the election, Democrats were already trying to impeach Hegseth, and the likelihood of an impeachment effort could increase with Democrats holding strong majorities in both chambers.

Vice President JD Vance is blaming the war for the GOP defeat. “The reason we lost is the war,” he said in a lengthy post on X Wednesday morning.

One source told CBS News that GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is being floated as a possible replacement for Hegseth, arguing DeSantis could go through Senate confirmation in the lame-duck period and then take the post when his term as governor expires Jan. 5.

Mr. Trump was asked Wednesday afternoon whether he was considering replacing Hegseth, and he told reporters, “No, I think he’s doing a very good job.” The president was also asked if he’d like to see Hegseth appointed to fill the seat that will be vacated by Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn when she takes office as governor. “I actually think he’d be very popular if he did that,” Mr. Trump said, “but I haven’t heard that at all.”

Asked for comment about reports that Hegseth’s future as defense secretary was in question, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement that the president “has full confidence in Secretary Hegseth.” In the statement, Kelly also praised the military operations in Iran and Venezuela and Hegseth’s efforts to reverse the Biden Pentagon’s prioritizing of “DEI and woke ideology.”

Weijia Jiang contributed to this report.

This story published first on CBS News at 11:39 a.m. on Nov. 4, 2026.

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Vance blames Iran conflict for GOP midterm defeats: “The reason we lost is the war”

November 4, 2026 / 11:41 AM EST / CBS News

Washington— Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday that he believes Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress because of voters’ opposition to the war in Iran and suggested that the conflict may not have been worth the cost of losing the GOP’s hold on the Senate.

In his first public comments since Democrats’ rout of Republicans in the midterm elections, Vance said Republicans must be honest about the impact the war had on their campaigns in order to determine the best path forward for the party.

“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote in a post on X. “If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there.”

The vice president said many voters who backed President Trump and him in the 2024 presidential contest cast their ballots for Democrats in 2026 for four reasons: to end the war with Iran, focus on the cost of living and inflation, put America first and change the U.S. relationship to Israel.

“Our voters showed up,” Vance wrote. “And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats.”

The vice president highlighted Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy’s call to reach a “diplomatic resolution” to the conflict with Iran, saying that her recommendation was “sound.” Vance spent much of the spring leading U.S. negotiators in talks aimed at ending the conflict and reached an ill-fated agreement with Iran to halt the fighting that soon fell apart.

In his post, the vice president said an unnamed data analyst told him that voters who backed him and Mr. Trump in 2024 were angry and would vote for Democrats in the midterms. He said that analysis “looks prophetic now.”

“Our voters did show up,” he wrote. “In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026. “

Vance also said it’s likely the GOP’s economic messaging “wasn’t sharp enough” in the closing weeks of the campaign.

“I remain hopeful about our country,” he said. “To the people who are pissed off and want to say, ‘II told you so’: you’re right, you did tell us so. Take that energy into electing Republicans who share your worldview. To the people who are just pissed at the results, you should be. Let’s take that anger and get back to the work of saving our country.”

Democrats are expected to hold at least 54 seats in the Senate following wins in 10 of 11 battleground states. The Senate elections in Alaska and Mississippi are unresolved and rated as toss-ups. CBS News estimates Democrats will control between 251 and 268 seats in the House when all votes are counted.

Mr. Trump launched the war in Iran in late February and had pledged at the time that it would last only four to five weeks. But it has since stretched into its eighth month, leading to a spike in gas prices.

In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, the president suggested that the war with Iran was partially to blame for Republicans’ losses, but he said “people understand the importance of what I’ve done.”

Still, Mr. Trump has repeatedly defended his decision to go to war with Iran and told CBS News on Tuesday that Tehran must not be able to develop a nuclear weapon.

The president said the war will end “when I say it ends.”

The U.S. launched limited defensive strikes on Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday. Twenty-three U.S. service members have been killed during the conflict, and 865 have been wounded, according to the Defense Department.

Rep Marie Gluesenkamp Perez notably voted with Republicans to rescue their agenda in defiance of Leader Hakeem Jeffries

By Elizabeth ElkindFox News

Published November 4, 2026 1:59pm EST | Updated November 4, 2026 2:20pm EST

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Trump rallies voters in sprint towards midterms

‘The Big Money Show’ panel analyzes President Donald Trump’s economic messaging on the campaign trail and reviews the latest Fox News polls in the Ohio and Texas Senate races ahead of the midterm elections, where cost of living remains a top concern for voters.

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A Democratic lawmaker who publicly defied House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., twice beat the odds to win re-election in a district that President Donald Trump carried in 2024.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., defeated Republican Washington State Sen. John Braun to win a third term in the House of Representatives, The Associated Press reported.

It’s an important victory for House Democrats in their quest to claw back the majority in Congress, but one that could also create drama for party leaders on key votes over the next two years.

JEFFRIES THREATENS ‘SERIOUS RESPONSE’ AFTER DEMOCRATS HELP GOP ADVANCE ANTI-SOCIALISM VOTE

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Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., arrives for a vote series at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 25, 2024, in Washington, D.C.(Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Gluesenkamp Perez, who has been known to buck her party on votes in the past, infuriated her fellow Democrats twice in September when she sided with Republicans on procedural votes that helped GOP leaders rescue their agenda from conservative rebellions.

If not for her and Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, siding with Republicans on those two votes, the House GOP’s agenda would have been paralyzed.

The first time earned her a rare public rebuke from Jeffries, who called it a “breach of trust.” Other left-wing lawmakers called for her to be removed from the powerful House Appropriations Committee over the move.

But one could argue that Gluesenkamp Perez’s public defiance of her own party was critical for her political survival. Trump won her district by roughly 3 percentage points in 2024, and she first won her seat by defeating an incumbent House Republican.

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President Donald Trump looks on during the trophy ceremony after the U.S. Team wins 17-13 following the Sunday’s Singles on day four of the Presidents Cup 2026 at Medinah Country Club on Sept. 27, 2026, in Medinah, Ill.(Luke Hales/Getty Images)

Washington’s 3rd Congressional District includes rural areas and the city of Vancouver, and smaller coastal towns in the southwest portion of the state.

HOUSE DEMS OVERWHELMINGLY REJECT ANTI-SOCIALISM RESOLUTION AFTER 2 MODERATES DEFY JEFFRIES

Part of what bolstered Gluesenkamp Perez in her previous two races was her opponent, Joe Kent, suffering from electability issues because of his association with far-right groups. He was later named Trump’s director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center, but resigned over disagreements on Middle East policy.

This time, however, the race was expected to be much closer, with Braun running as a more mainstream GOP candidate.

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Joseph Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11, 2025(Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Braun is a former Navy captain who also helps run his family’s company, Braun Northwest, a manufacturer of emergency vehicles.

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More than $20 million was spent on their race, according to the Washington Standard, a sign of its critical position for both parties.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com