Republicans can win the midterms if they just stop underselling success
Republicans head into the 2026 midterms with a rare advantage: a concrete record of accomplishments to run on powered by President Donald Trump’s second-term successes.
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has proposed a practical midterm strategy reminiscent of his 1994 "Contract with America" that urges Republicans to run hard on their winning record.
That record includes such wins as the Working Families Tax Cut, which has already brought positive effects to the economy. The "Big Beautiful Bill" extended the 2017 tax cuts, ended taxes on tips and overtime, ended taxes on Social Security for most seniors, expanded the child tax credits and childcare tax credits. It also permitted businesses to write off major investments, made permanent a 20% small-business tax deduction, loosened restrictions on oil and gas lease sales, expanded Workforce Pell grants, provided investment accounts for children and expanded access to zero-deductible telehealth.
Remarkably, not a single Democrat voted in favor of this powerhouse legislation.
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Republicans should be shouting these accomplishments from the rooftops.
Compare that to the Democrats, whose much-delayed, much-hyped, then much-feared "autopsy" of what went wrong in 2024 finally hit the press. Sadly, it left out any fruitful evaluation of the real reasons for their loss — the failed policies of the Biden administration and the promises of then-Vice President Kamala Harris to enact even worse ones.
In fact, Democrats only seem willing to double down on their crazy ideas, moving further away from the American mainstream to embrace their activist base. Their candidates oppose law enforcement and border security. Their candidates care more about biological men pretending to be women than real women. They fielded a candidate who had a Nazi SS tattoo and another who called for the imprisonment of "American Zionists" and spouted other antisemitic phrases.
Democrat candidates care more about illegal aliens than American citizens, epitomized by the fact that not a single Democrat stood during the president’s State of the Union address when asked if they support American citizens over illegal immigrants. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries thinks continued racial division is the way to go, asking athletes to withdraw or boycott Southern universities, even though the best options for them might be universities like Alabama, Georgia or Auburn.
Harris — maybe the closest thing to a party leader they’ve got — isn’t doing the Democrats any favors either. Her recent call for a "no bad idea brainstorm" focused on nothing but unconstitutional pipe dreams.
Harris and other prominent Democrats openly push to fundamentally rewrite the rules of American democracy. If they had their druthers, they’d abolish the Electoral College, create multi-member congressional districts and immediately pack the Supreme Court. These positions are no longer fringe; they are the mainstream of today’s Democratic Party.
Marc Elias, the Democrats’ redistricting strategist, has gone so far as to imply that the entire state government of Virginia should be thrown out and reconstituted after the Virginia Democrats’ redistricting referendum was deemed unconstitutional by the state’s Supreme Court. Talk about a sore loser.
The Democrats simply will not learn from their mistakes. Still, Republicans aren’t guaranteed a midterm victory and, despite the proven success of their agenda, there’s more work to be done to convince voters that Trump and Republicans are the team unlocking prosperity for Americans.
For example, though inflation has largely been tamed by the Trump administration, it’s still nagging enough to mention. High gas prices also remain a tangible pain point for many voters. Republicans should make the case that their energy policies have already generated over $4 billion in new lease revenues and domestic energy production. These policies — as well as a smart resolution to the Iran war — are the surest path to lasting relief at the pump.
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Another "must do" for Republicans is to ensure the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement’s successes are getting through to moms. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has made significant progress getting America on the path to better health. Under his leadership, artificial food dyes known to contain carcinogens have been eliminated.
Vaccines are being reexamined for true efficacy and requirements are being relaxed to give families more choices for their children. The "Eat Real Food" campaign encourages families to move away from the ultra-processed foods filled with unpronounceable, unhealthy chemicals and toward real, nourishing whole foods.
Women care about their families’ health and are seeing positive changes on grocery store shelves and in the doctor’s office, and it’s President Trump and Republicans who’ve empowered the Make America Healthy Again transformation. In 2026, the issue of health should be just as important on the campaign trail as the economy.
The midterms, like the 2024 election, will pit normal people with normal ideas against crazy. The 2026 map is receptive to Republican ideas, and Republicans have a popular and winning record. Now they need to become their own best cheerleaders and make sure every voter knows it.