OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
1:33 PM – Wednesday, November 5, 2025
GOP House Speaker Mike Johnson sought to calm uneasy Republicans on Wednesday, brushing off the party’s losses on Tuesday’s off-year elections as a temporary “blip” that doesn’t foreshadow trouble in the 2026 midterms.
While speaking to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol, hours after results showed Democrats holding key governorships and making legislative gains, Johnson (R-La.) struck a defiant tone.
“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.”
The elections, held largely in Democrat-leaning states such as New Jersey and Virginia, saw Democrats retain governorships and pick up state legislative seats. In New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill, a U.S. congresswoman, defeated GOP candidate Jack Ciattarelli to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Phil Murphy.
In Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, another Democrat congresswoman, narrowly won the governor’s race against the GOP’s rising star Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. Spanberger’s victory represents the first time since 2017 that a Democrat has won the governorship in the state.
Meanwhile, turnout hovered around 40–45% in most contests — typical for an off-year — but Democrats credited strong participation among younger and suburban voters, driven in part by “abortion rights and economic messaging.”
High-profile political “surrogates,” including former Democrat President Barack Obama, campaigned in both states. Down the ballot, Democrats celebrated gains in several legislatures, expanding their narrow majority in the Pennsylvania House and adding seats in Michigan and Arizona.
Additionally, Democrat-led ballot measures performed well in other blue states as well, unsurprisingly. California voters approved Proposition (Prop) 50 and Colorado passed paid family leave with broad support.
Analysts estimate the results would translate to a very modest national advantage for Democrats—roughly equivalent to a three- to five-seat edge in the U.S. House if replicated in 2026. However, others worry that this could pose potential challenges for the GOP’s already thin 220–215 Republican majority.
Still, Johnson dismissed talk of a Democrat resurgence.
“I think people are frustrated and angry as we are. I am. The president is, and we express that in different ways,” Johnson added. “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.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, performatively hailed Tuesday’s outcomes as “a clear rejection of MAGA extremism,” pointing to what he labeled as above-average turnout in several states as evidence of sustained energy among blue voters.
With all 435 House seats and 33 Senate races up for grabs next year — including competitive Republican defenses in Maine, North Carolina, and Florida — the 2025 results aren’t a crystal ball. However, they do underscore the main battleground themes ahead: the economy, abortion, and the future of Trump’s influence on the GOP.
Following Tuesday’s results, Vice President JD Vance also chimed in on Wednesday to emphasize that “we [Republicans] have to do better at turning out voters than we have in the past.”
“I think it’s idiotic to overreact to a couple of elections in blue states, but a few thoughts,” Vance wrote on X following the Democrat victories. “Scott Pressler [sic], TPUSA, and a bunch of others have been working hard to register voters. I said it in 2022, and I’ve said it repeatedly since: our coalition is ‘lower propensity’ and that means we have to do better at turning out voters than we have in the past,” Vance said.
“We need to focus on the home front. The president has done a lot that has already paid off in lower interest rates and lower inflation, but we inherited a disaster from Joe Biden and Rome wasn’t built in a day,” the vice president continued. “We’re going to keep on working to make a decent life affordable in this country, and that’s the metric by which we’ll ultimately be judged in 2026 and beyond.”
“The infighting is stupid. I care about my fellow citizens–particularly young Americans–being able to afford a decent life, I care about immigration and our sovereignty, and I care about establishing peace overseas so our resources can be focused at home. If you care about those things too, let’s work together.”
As Johnson returned to his Capitol office, Republicans have reportedly begun assessing next steps—aware that while the midterms remain a year away, the climb to keep control of Congress just got a bit steeper than initially expected.
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