Vice President JD Vance blamed the Iran war for Republican midterm losses, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the party’s congressional record, sharpening a debate after the Associated Press projected Democratic control of both chambers.
The Associated Press (AP) called the Senate for Democrats at 11:36 p.m. ET Nov. 3 and the House at 1:24 a.m. ET Nov. 4. Those calls projected the outcomes; they were not final certified totals.
DeSantis told Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Nov. 4 that the result was “a rebuke of the president and the Congress.” He said some voters stayed home because they were frustrated by Republicans’ lack of productivity. AP also reported that DeSantis pointed to Florida as an exception to Democratic gains.
Vance wrote on X on Nov. 4, “The reason we lost is the war,” and said the party’s discussion about its future should start with the conflict.
The AP Voter Poll, which surveyed more than 100,000 people, found that about six in 10 believed the United States made the wrong decision by taking military action against Iran. About one-third said the war was crucial to their congressional vote. Roughly half said the cost of living was crucial, and a similar share said the same about government corruption.
AP also reported that higher fuel and other costs tied to the conflict were affecting families around the world. The poll results show that the war was less often cited as crucial to congressional choices than either living costs or corruption.
Before the election, AP described Vance as the leading Republican prospect for 2028 and said the party’s losses could give Republicans who had been wary of challenging President Donald Trump an opening. DeSantis, an outgoing governor and former Trump rival, presented Florida as a counterexample to Democratic gains.
A Polymarket snapshot at 8:55 p.m. ET Nov. 5 showed implied probabilities of 37.9% for Vance, 21.7% for Secretary of State Marco Rubio and 11.7% for DeSantis to win the Republican nomination. Polymarket says the prices move with trading; they do not establish who will run or win.
