Split election results for Trump-backed candidates in key races while DeSantis wins big
Trump likely to announce 2024 White House bid next week, but potential rival Ron DeSantis is emboldened
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}True to form, former President Trump touted the successes of the candidates he backed in the midterm elections.
"174 wins and 9 losses, A GREAT EVENING," the former president exclaimed on Truth Social, his social media site.
However, in high-profile statewide races involving nominees Trump boosted to victory in Republican primaries, it was more of a split decision in the general election.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump reveled in JD Vance’s Senate victory in Ohio, as well as three of other Senate triumphs by Rep. Ted Budd of North Carolina, Katie Britt in Alabama and state Attorney General Eric Schmitt in Missouri.
MIDTERM ELECTIONS 2022: LIVE UPDATES
Former President Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
However, the former president also suffered major setbacks, from Mehmet Oz’s defeat at the hands of Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in Pennsylvania’s blockbuster Senate battle, to gubernatorial nominees Doug Mastriano in the Keystone State, Tudor Dixon in Michigan, and Dan Cox in Maryland.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The former president held court as the election results poured in at a midterms party at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, that included some of the biggest names in Trump's "Make America Great Again" world.
Putting a damper on the evening though was an incoming tropical storm barreling toward Florida’s Atlantic coast – and disappointing results for Republicans from coast to coast.
BETO O'ROURKE, STACEY ABRAMS RAZZED AFTER REPEATED LOSSES
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With Democrats facing historical headwinds — the party that wins the White House traditionally suffers major setbacks in the ensuing midterm elections — and a very rough political climate fueled by record inflation, soaring crime and a crisis at the nation’s southern border, all accentuated by President Biden’s rebounding but still underwater approval ratings and a GOP jump in the public opinion polls heading into the midterms, Republicans were riding a wave of optimism.
However, the GOP wave did not materialize, resulting in a less than stellar performance by Republicans in the midterms.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks on the phone as he waits for election results in a room at the Madison Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 8, 2022. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Control of the House of Representatives is still up in the air as of Wednesday morning, and if Republicans do recapture the chamber they lost to Democrats in the 2018 midterms, their margins may be as tenuous as the Democrats' current majority.
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In the Senate, the Democrats may maintain their razor-thin majority, and they held their own in the battle for governorships.
As Tuesday night blended into Wednesday morning, there were growing concerns that some Trump endorsed nominees and other Republicans running MAGA-style campaigns were too far outside the mainstream to win in the general election and served as a drag on the party. Among them, Senate nominee Blake Masters in Arizona, who trailed Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly as the votes were still be counted in battleground Arizona.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The GOP underperformance in the midterms comes a week before Trump is expected to announce a 2024 White House bid.
Incumbent Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to supporters at an election night party after winning his race for reelection in Tampa, Florida, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, as his wife Casey listens. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Additionally, the mixed results for his endorsed candidates was vastly overshadowed by the powerful re-election performance of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 Republican rival.
DESANTIS, RUBIO, TURN FLORIDA RED
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Trump, who has taken a couple of shots at DeSantis in recent days, noticeably did not congratulate DeSantis during his Election Night comments.
DeSantis, at his victory celebration, was serenaded with chants of "two more years," by supporters encouraging the governor to run for the White House before finishing the second term he just won.