What They Are Saying: “It's Not That Democrats Lost. It's That They Lost Everywhere”
“Republican candidates for New Jersey State Senate outperformed the seats' 2020 Biden/Trump results by a median 10.8 points”
“In races for Virginia's House of Delegates, where Rs punctuated Youngkin's win by taking the majority, the GOP topped 2020 by a median 12.4 points.”
The Republican State Committee (RSLC) had a banner 2021 election, defying political forecasts in multiple states across the country this week. The committee led the effort to flip the House of Delegates and the lieutenant governor’s office in Virginia, net at least six seats in the New Jersey Assembly and at least one seat in the New Jersey Senate, flip a Texas House seat that Joe Biden won by 14 points in 2020, and retain a seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
As we head into the weekend, here is some of what they are saying so far about the RSLC’s historic 2021.
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Governing: “It's Not That Democrats Lost. It's That They Lost Everywhere...In an early vote of no-confidence in the Biden presidency, Republicans made inroads among suburban and Hispanic voters, while expanding their already long reach into rural precincts...But the fact that Republicans were able to score gains in an overwhelmingly blue state – Joe Biden carried New Jersey by 16 percentage points last year – points to trouble for Democrats all around the country heading into next year’s midterms. Democrats lost in all kinds of areas where they normally win, from South Texas to South Jersey”
Axios: “David ‘I've Seen Enough’ Wasserman of Cook Political Report calculates that on Tuesday, Republican candidates for New Jersey State Senate outperformed the seats' 2020 Biden/Trump results by a median 10.8 points...In races for Virginia's House of Delegates, where Rs punctuated Youngkin's win by taking the majority, the GOP topped 2020 by a median 12.4 points.”
Fox News: “The head of the Republican organization that works to elect GOP state legislative and executive-level candidates says this week's pickups in statehouse elections in Virginia and New Jersey can serve as a guide for the bigger battles ahead in 2022, when 36 states hold contests. ‘A lot of thought and data went into this and we won round one of the fight for the '22 cycle,’ Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) President Dee Duncan said, before adding that if his group follows its current playbook, ‘we will be successful again in 2022 like we were in 2021."’
The Hill: “Republican candidates were poised to sweep up and down the ballot in Virginia’s off-year elections on Tuesday, undoing a slate of past Democratic wins in the Old Dominion. Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin (R) defeated former Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), while Winsome Sears (R) made history as the first woman and woman of color to be elected to the position of lieutenant governor....Republicans also appeared set to take control of the House of Delegates early Wednesday morning. The party’s gains in the lower house come after Republicans lost a total of 22 seats over the last three elections. A source at the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) told The Hill that their goal going into election night was to net only one seat.”
Townhall: “The GOP truly swept Virginia. The Republicans candidates elected for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, with Attorney General-Elect Jason Miyares defeating incumbent Mark Herring. They also have taken control of the House of Delegates, which had been at a 55-45 Democratic majority. As of Wednesday evening, the makeup is now 52-48, with Republicans in control...Particularly concerning for Democrats is that keeping control of the House of Delegates was a top priority for them, and one where they failed.”
Washington Times: “To fully appreciate the magnitude of the wins on Tuesday, it is important to remember that Virginia is not a purple state. It is a blue state. The last time a Republican won statewide in Virginia was 2009. The last Republican senator lost his reelection in 2006. The state Senate and House of Delegates are controlled by Democrats. So the Republican victories were impressive...There always seems to be a lot of hand-wringing among Republicans about the future of the Republican Party. The track record of the RSLC, including its recent success in Virginia and the promise of its new initiative, should encourage Republicans that things are going in the right direction.”
The Washington Post: “The Republican State Leadership Committee noted in a memo circulated Wednesday that it had relied on Biden’s waning popularity and Democrats’ intraparty division over a major social-spending package in Washington as part of its strategy to take back the House.”
The Hill: “Republican House of Delegates candidates were able to win in part through the parental rights and education-related message. A memo released by the Republican State Leadership Committee on Wednesday detailed how education was one of three key issues, along with public safety and the cost of living, that put the candidates over the top.”
The Hill’s Julia Manchester: "It’s amazing to think about that. Over the past three election cycles involving House of Delegates in VA, Republicans have lost a total of 22 seats. And now they are on track, finally, to regain that chamber."
Townhall: “A great deal of media attention on Wednesday focused on Virginia Republican Glenn Youngkin’s win and the many down ballot races in both Virginia, New Jersey, and elsewhere that Republicans swept. But the best story by far is the upset that happened in New Jersey’s District 3. As Townhall reported Wednesday, Edward Durr, a GOP truck driver who had a shoestring budget, was on the verge of taking out Steve Sweeney, the longest-serving president of the state Senate in New Jersey's history. Durr’s incredible victory was also part of an overall sweep in District 3, with Bethanne McCarthy and Beth Sawyer also flipping the district’s Assembly seats. “If last night’s outcome in Virginia was an upset of monumental proportions, the result in New Jersey’s Legislative District 3 is a political earthquake,” RSLC Deputy Executive Director Edith Jorge-Tuñón said in a statement.”
Texas Tribune: “Texas Democrats went "all in" to protect a San Antonio-area House seat from flipping. The GOP still took it....Republicans made clear from the get-go that they were gunning for the open seat in Texas House District 118. And Democrats took them seriously, seeking to show early on that they would not be upset in an overwhelmingly Hispanic district that President Joe Biden carried by 14 percentage points last year. And yet Republican John Lujan captured the seat Tuesday, in exactly the kind of nationally reverberating outcome that Democrats were working to avoid.”
Townhall: “Republicans on Tuesday saw their third flip of a state legislative seat in 2021 special elections after John Lujan pulled off a victory in Texas House District 118, which President Biden won by 14 points in 2020. The win comes after flips in a Connecticut district by Ryan Fazio in August and one by Jon Dunwell in Iowa—a district that had been blue for the last 46 years. The Republican State Leadership Committee congratulated Lujan on his win over Democrat Frank Ramirez.”
Philadelphia Inquirer: “Brobson, with significant financial support from the state Republican Party, brought in more than $470,000 between Oct. 19 and 29, campaign filings show. That does not include an additional $447,000 in independent expenditures made on his behalf by groups that are not permitted under the law to coordinate directly with a candidate.”
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