# Opinion: Hugh Hewitt Says the GOP Is 'Wounded, Not Dead,' and Recovery Means Early 2028 Debates, a Fast Win in Iran and Keeping the Presidency Over Congress

The radio host argues Republicans should recruit patiently for 2028, open the nominating process early, and treat the three cycles before 2032 redistricting as a window. He also urges Trump to win in Iran quickly. The views are his.

- Section: [Opinion](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/opinion/)
- Published: 2026-11-05
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/opinion-hugh-hewitt-gop-wounded-not-dead-recovery-must-start-now-rebuild-2028-primary-debates-win-iran-fox-news/

This is an opinion column. The views are Hugh Hewitt's, a Fox News contributor and radio host, not ours.

His claim. Hewitt writes that the Republican Party "isn't dead" but looks and feels that way after Tuesday. His case is that the party is beaten badly and will need years to mend. He offers the rebuild of the Cleveland Browns as his lesson: "there aren't any shortcuts," only patience and building through the draft.

The plan. He wants Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno to cheer up the Senate caucus and recruit a team of Senate candidates for 2028, and the smaller House conference to do the same. He asks President Trump to make sure the Republican National Committee runs a wide-open selection of his successor, with debates among would-be nominees beginning in early 2027 ahead of a January 2028 Iowa primary, with New Hampshire right behind. He also suggests Trump's State of the Union early in 2027 could supply an agenda for rising leaders to rally around or reject.

History. Hewitt points to earlier comebacks. After Goldwater's 1964 loss the GOP had 32 senators and 140 House members. Republicans lost the Senate in 1986 and fell to 45 seats, and took eight years to get it back. By Obama's 2009 inauguration there were only 41 Republican senators and 178 House Republicans.

The map. He says the center right has three election cycles before redistricting that follows the 2030 Census. If the count goes badly, he writes, Democrats would hold 21 state trifectas to the GOP's 19, with 10 divided. He expects redrawing in the 40 states that have not already done so.

Iran. Hewitt urges Trump to win the fight with Iran "quickly and in such a fashion that there are no doubters." He says the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait must be open to all traffic, and he warns against "ill-conceived MOUs." He argues that Democratic majorities arriving in January would try to interfere with the president's authority as commander in chief.

His bottom line. Anyone with a single villain or a quick fix, he writes, is not grasping the scale of the rebuke. He adds that if Republicans must choose between running Congress and holding the presidency, "the latter is by far the better choice."

Why it matters here. Hewitt argues for patience and for fighting on the war, while other columns we carried this week blamed the war and prices for the loss. We have covered his earlier pieces on the midterms.

What we could not check. We read Hewitt's column, not the state counts he refers to. The trifecta numbers are his and depend on counting still under way.

## Source

Original reporting: [Fox News (opinion by Hugh Hewitt)](https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/hugh-hewitt-gop-wounded-not-dead-recovery-has-start-now)