A number of Republican US senators are sounding the alarm after the party’s electoral losses Tuesday, warning the GOP may struggle in next year’s contests without a change in strategy.
“Part of what we have to do is get the vote out,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC).
“I don’t know if you all saw the disturbing number[s] [for] turnout… We didn’t show up,” he added, framing his party’s Tuesday performance as an issue of poor motivation among GOP voters.
“Suburban voters really turned out,” observed freshman Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH). “A lot of rural voters, a lot of exurban voters didn’t turn out… We just lost a lot of self-identified Republicans and that’s a way to lose an election.”
Vance also framed the results as a messaging failure around the issue of abortion.
The “pro choice” position has won out across the country, from traditionally Democratic bastions like Vermont and California to deep red states like Kansas and Montana, a development now worrying Republican strategists who advised candidates to abandon more radical proposals to ban abortion in all, or nearly all, cases.
Still, Republicans weighing in on the subject have continued to characterize the issue as primarily one of messaging rather than policy.
“It’s important to start saying you don’t support a federal ban on abortions,” said National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines. “You need to put reasonable limits and contrasting that with the Democrats’ position… framed that way, it turns into a winning issue.”
Many Republicans also interpreted Tuesday’s results as another repudiation of former US President Donald Trump, who currently faces 91 felony charges across four separate criminal cases.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron enjoyed Trump’s endorsement and was seen to embrace some of his rhetoric in the closing days of his campaign, to no avail. Democratic Governor Andy Beshear sailed to reelection Tuesday with a five-point margin in traditionally Republican-leaning Kentucky.
Democrats also wrested away control of Virginia’s lower legislative chamber and won a highly-sought state Supreme Court seat in Pennsylvania.
With abortion still on voters’ minds and Trump as the likely Republican presidential nominee, some GOP strategists worry 2024 could represent a challenging electoral environment for the party. Daines disagrees, suggesting the opportunity to weigh in on Joe Biden’s presidency will play to Republicans’ favor in down-ballot races.
“Joe Biden will be on the ballot in 2024, most likely, and the issues will be about inflation, about the border, about what’s going on in the world in terms of geopolitics,” predicted Daines. “I think it will be a different issue set and a very different turnout model, as well.”