# Opinion: The Lesson for Republicans Is the Candidates and the Kitchen Table, Not the Border

Our opinion: the AP data points to weak nominees, prices and the Iran war, not to immigration enforcement. Republicans should fix the first three and keep the fourth.

- Section: [Opinion](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/opinion/)
- Published: 2026-11-05
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/opinion-republican-lesson-midterms-candidates-prices-keep-border-win-back-young-hispanic-voters/

This is our opinion. The facts come from the Associated Press and are linked to their source. The conclusions are ours.

Start with what the data does not say. The AP's takeaways name Mr. Trump's approval, prices, the Iran war and flawed nominees. They do not name border enforcement as the cause of the losses. In the AP Voter Poll, about 6 in 10 voters blamed Mr. Trump's policies for higher prices.

So our read is this. Republicans lost on cost of living and character, not on enforcement. That points to three fixes.

First, pick better nominees. The AP says Texas voters did not think Ken Paxton had the right character, South Carolina voters did not think Darline Graham had the experience, and about half of Georgia voters thought Mike Collins was too extreme. Primary voters picked them, and the president endorsed them. A party that cannot win Kansas, South Carolina and Texas with the candidate it chose should ask why it chose that candidate.

Second, give a plain answer on prices. Voters told pollsters who they blamed. A party that says tariffs and the war are worth it needs to say what voters get for the cost, in dollars, and when.

Third, go after the voters who left. About 7 in 10 voters under 30 backed Democrats for the House, and Hispanic and Black support for Republicans fell, per the AP. Those are not lost causes. Mr. Trump won a good share of both groups two years ago.

The counter-argument deserves a fair statement. Midterms punish the president's party almost every time, as Speaker Johnson noted, and a swing this size does not prove any single policy caused it. The poll shows what voters said, not what they would do if the war ended tomorrow.

Democrats face their own test. About half of voters dislike their party, too. They won on affordability. Now they have to deliver it.

Sources: AP takeaways and AP Voter Poll; CNN (Speaker Johnson's remarks).

## Source

Original reporting: [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/election-takeaways-midterms-trump-democrats-takeover-republicans-1cb09c8674598632ec3e4307eda5fbb8)