Donald Trump attributed Republican defeats on Tuesday partly to his absence from the ballot. His closest allies blamed weak candidates, while one party member said Republicans had failed to respond to rising living costs. The evening descended into a round of mutual recriminations after crushing losses in Virginia, New Jersey, California and several other states—the first major elections since Trump took office in January.
“‘TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND THE SHUTDOWN—THOSE ARE TWO REASONS REPUBLICANS LOST TODAY,’ according to the polls,” Trump wrote on Truth Social shortly after Democratic victories were declared in Virginia, New Jersey and New York.
Midterm elections often serve as a kind of referendum on a White House administration’s performance. This year, Trump largely stayed out of his party’s campaigns, and Republicans were quick to attribute the losses to heightened Democratic mobilization in traditionally “blue” states rather than to discontent with the president himself. The approach helped soften the impact of the 2025 results, which could prove a troubling signal ahead of the congressional elections.
“It’s not a disaster, but it’s not a great sign either. A rough night for the president’s party, though these aren’t general elections,” said one White House ally, speaking on condition of anonymity. “The main problem remains: how to transfer his electorate to other candidates? There are people who vote only when his name is on the ballot.”
“People don’t feel the promises have been kept,” he added. “Victory was built on a pledge to cut expenses and raise incomes, but that effect hasn’t materialized.”
The Republican defeats were substantial. Democrats won all three key races in Virginia, gained 13 additional seats in the House of Delegates, and Mikie Sherrill beat Jack Ciattarelli by 13 points, capturing districts that had backed Trump in 2024. In Pennsylvania, three Democratic justices retained their seats on the state’s Supreme Court, while in California voters approved Proposition 50, redrawing electoral districts in favor of Democrats. In Republican-leaning Georgia, Democrats managed to unseat two members of the Public Service Commission.
Trump ally Vivek Ramaswamy, running for governor of Ohio, offered a blunt assessment, saying the losses stemmed from the party’s failure to respond to rising prices. “We got our asses kicked,” he said in a video message posted on X.
Trump’s advisers blamed Winsome Earle-Sears and Jack Ciattarelli, Republican gubernatorial candidates in Virginia and New Jersey, arguing that both had initially held strong chances. Trump’s former campaign manager Chris LaCivita called Earle-Sears’s performance a failure she had “brought upon herself.”
“A bad candidate and a bad campaign have consequences—the Virginia governor’s race is example number one,” he wrote on social media shortly after Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s victory was announced.
The head of the pro-Trump super PAC, Alex Bruesewitz, accused Earle-Sears of “not being a friend of President Trump” and urged Republican candidates to show stronger support for him.
Although both Earle-Sears and Ciattarelli professed loyalty to Trump, he kept his distance—particularly from the Virginia candidate, who had criticized him more than once in the past. “Tonight showed the Republican Party that moderate candidates who only half-embrace Trump and MAGA don’t win, even in ‘purple’ states,” Bruesewitz wrote. “A candidate must unite all wings of the party, and that’s possible only if they fully stand on MAGA principles.”
“To be clear, New Jersey is not a referendum on Trump,” said strategist Mike Hahn, a former member of his campaign team. “It’s a reflection of Ciattarelli himself—he’s losing for the third time and has always been vulnerable.”
Few in the party faulted Trump for staying out of races in traditionally Democratic states—most understood that his active involvement could have backfired on Republicans. Even so, his rare televised rallies on the eve of the elections underscored how distant he has become from the party’s candidates.
Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said during a live broadcast on Charlie Kirk’s YouTube channel that Trump should have more vigorously supported Ciattarelli, who was considered the GOP’s most promising contender. Unlike Earle-Sears, Trump had publicly endorsed him.
“Should Trump have gone to New Jersey? Yes, absolutely,” Kolvet said. “People who support him would have felt energized.”