WASHINGTON, D.C. — The dust has mostly settled from the midterm elections one week ago, and with lawmakers back on Capitol Hill, thoughts and feedback are pouring in from both sides of the aisle about last Tuesday’s results.
Democrats are riding high after massive wins that will deliver sizable majorities in the House and Senate in January. Republicans, on the other hand, are heading back to the drawing board and looking ahead to 2028.
Democrats are expected to kick off the 120th Congress in January with 259 House seats and at least 54 Senate seats.
“Very excited to continue the work,” said Rep. Josh Riley, D-N.Y.
“We are about to win nine Senate seats. That has never happened in my political history,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. “Voters across the country made clear that they are ready for change. It was a blue tsunami,” Gillibrand added.
Republicans will be in the minority, with an estimated 176 seats in the House and, so far, just 44 in the Senate.
“I mean, I look at the outcome. It really was, it was brutal on Republicans,” said Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Pa.
Several House races have yet to be called, and Mississippi and Alaska’s Senate results could take days, if not longer. Still, Republicans will have to get used to being the minority party — for at least two years — after having a trifecta in Washington, holding the House, Senate and the White House, since 2024.
“I’ve been in the minority; I’ve been in the majority. I prefer the majority,” Thompson said, while still expressing gratitude for his constituents. “I’m honored and really appreciate the majority of the people that voted for me and look forward to serving in the 120th Congress.”
“You can’t sit there and cry about a loss. You’ve got another race coming up. So just start getting ready for the next race. What didn’t we do? What could we have done that we didn’t do? And then let’s go ahead and pursue that,” said Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa.
Congressman Kelly believes one solution is less Republican infighting. It’s something that has plagued the GOP’s narrow House majority for the past two years.
“Go back to President Reagan — my 80% friend is not my 20% enemy. Better start taking a look, first of all, not across the aisle — but right in our own conference. How much damage did we do in our own conference? Republicans going after Republicans. That is absolutely insane,” Kelly said.
On Tuesday, House Republicans chose Congressman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, to lead their caucus in the 120th Congress. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said he did not want the job shortly after Tuesday’s results.
Senate Republicans also voted Tuesday afternoon to stick with Republican Leader John Thune, R-S.D., as their leader.
