Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Wednesday downplayed the previous night’s election results, saying they aren’t indicative of how the 2026 midterms will go.
Democratic candidates won big in the first major elections of President Trump’s second term, emerging victorious in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races, as well as the New York City mayoral race amid a government shutdown. And Democrats are already arguing the results are a good sign of what’s to come in the 2026 midterms, which will determine whether Republicans retain their majority in the House and Senate.
But Johnson said “there were no surprises” Tuesday night.
“What happened last night was blue states and blue cities voted blue,” Johnson said at a Wednesday press briefing. “We all saw that coming, and no one should read too much into last night’s election results. Off year elections are not indicative of what’s to come. That’s what history teaches us.”
Johnson added he didn’t think the loss “was any reflection about Republicans at all.”
“I think people are frustrated and angry as we are. I am. The president is, and we express that in different ways,” Johnson said. “But we’re looking forward to a great election running on our record, and we’re going to get all of our incumbents reelected and we’re going to add to the number here.”
President Trump acknowledged the election results on Wednesday, saying that the shutdown was partly to blame for Republicans’ losses.
The shutdown, which entered its 36th day on Wednesday, has broken the record for the longest in U.S. history. The Senate on Tuesday failed for the 14th time to advance a Republican stopgap measure to reopen the government.
Johnson argued that Democrats, who have opposed the measure, are to blame for the shutdown.
“It’s very clear who’s responsible for this. And I think that when we go into next year, in the midterms, we’re very bullish about the outcome,” he said. “We have an extraordinary record to run on.”
