2026 Midterm Elections

House Republicans have felt more optimistic about the midterm elections in recent weeks following a series of legal victories that have facilitated a gerrymandering blitz in GOP-controlled states, but behind closed doors, the leader of the GOP – President Donald Trump – appears to have already “resigned to losing,” The Wall Street Journal reported Friday night.

“At times, the president has seemed resigned to losing, pointing out that the party in control almost always suffers in the midterms,” The Journal’s report reads. “Privately, Trump has occasionally told aides that he doesn’t care about the outcome, according to people familiar with the comments.”

A former lawmaker from a red state warned that something ominous is hiding behind the latest "five-alarm fire" from the Supreme Court, according to a new report.

G.K. Butterfield Jr., a former Democratic representative from North Carolina, told The Atlantic recently that the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais is a "five-alarm fire" for voting rights. The ruling allowed states to gerrymander their maps for partisan purposes, even if there is a racially discriminatory effect from the move, which effectively gutted the last remaining section of the Voting Rights Act that protected minority voters.

Fox News host Jesse Watters sparked outrage on Thursday after he uttered a "trash" claim about the Voting Rights Act during a segment on the show he co-hosts, "The Five."

During the segments, Watters claimed that Black people don't have enough babies to justify their proportionate share of representation in Congress. He made the claim at a time when the Supreme Court ruled in Louisiana v. Callais that states can gerrymander their maps for partisan purposes, even if there is a racially discriminatory effect. Red states like Louisiana, Florida, and Tennessee have all passed new maps since the ruling that eliminated Democratic seats held by Black representatives and cracked majority Black voting districts.

Rick Jackson is running to be the Republican nominee for governor in Georgia — but his wife may have different allegiances.

According to filings from the Federal Election Commission, Melody Jackson, the candidate's spouse, gave a $1,000 contribution to Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in February 2025 — a key Democratic lawmaker that Republicans were hoping to seriously contest this year.

A political analyst warned on Thursday that Democrats have reached a "do or die" moment ahead of the 2026 midterm elections as a red state escalates its efforts to gerrymander its map.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, announced on Thursday that he is calling a special session for state lawmakers to redraw their election map ahead of the midterms. The announcement comes after McMaster refused to call a special session earlier this month after the state legislature failed to secure a veto-proof majority supporting the new maps during its regular session.

Republican lawmakers already bracing for a potential midterm election wipeout are now facing a crisis within their own party: the National Republican Congressional Committee's decision to center its campaign around Trump and the MAGA movement is terrifying vulnerable GOP candidates who fear the strategy will make their grip on their seats even more tenuous.

According to NBC News, numerous Republican candidates in competitive districts are actively avoiding Trump or featuring him prominently in their advertising — a stark sign that the president has become a political liability in swing districts.

An offhand comment Donald Trump made on the White House South Lawn before departing for China is causing no small amount of heartburn for Republicans already worried about the midterm elections.

Asked if “Americans’ financial situations” were pushing him to make a deal to end the war with Iran, the president replied, “Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran — they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing — we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”

A looming Supreme Court decision on campaign financing could dramatically amplify the Republican Party's already massive cash advantage over Democrats, flooding GOP nominees with what one Democratic operative described as "terrifying" amounts of additional campaign funding heading into crucial midterm elections.

According to the Washington Post, the Republican National Committee is sitting on "well over $100 million more than Democrats in their party committees" as the midterm election cycle heats up — giving Republicans a significant war chest advantage in what is otherwise shaping up to be a difficult election year for the GOP.