Republicans try damage control as devastating 'shellacking' seems inevitable

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., August 6, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The latest big win for Democrats in Virginia has the GOP grappling with its "growing fears of [a] midterm shellacking" in November, according to The Hill, sending the party into spin and damage control mode.

On Tuesday, voters in Virginia approved a new congressional district map crafted by the state legislature, one that alters the current map to 10 Democratic-majority districts and one Republican-majority district, which could add four more Democratic seats in the House in November. This move was made in response to GOP-favored gerrymanders in red states like Texas, which were done at the behest of President Donald Trump to help protect the party's House majority in the 2026 midterms.

With the measure passing in Virginia, the party's fears of "potentially widespread midterm losses" continue to haunt them.

"The party already faced historical challenges as the majority party going into the midterm elections, on top of economic headwinds that have become even stronger as the Iran war wreaks havoc on the global economy," The Hill explained in a report from Thursday morning. "Recent polls show that President Trump has been losing ground on not only his overall approval but [also] the state of the economy."

In the face of these mounting concerns, some Republicans have tried to do damage control and put a positive spin on the Virginia results. Former White House deputy chief of staff James Blair, during a CNN interview on Wednesday, highlighted the narrower margin of victory the redistricting referendum had compared to big Democratic wins in the state last year.

"This is a state in November of 2025 that went by 15 points to the Democrats for governor and about 8 points for attorney general. Last night, this was a 3-point race," Blair saif That’s actually a 3-point overperformance of the Trump 2024 historic performance in Virginia. So just as a baseline for all of the Democrats crowing this morning, if Republicans perform anywhere near on average the way they did in Virginia last night, we not only add seats to the Senate, but we add seats to the House."

The Republican National Committee, meanwhile, has committed to fighting the new map in court, with a judge already striking it down on Wednesday. The Virginia Attorney General has vowed to appeal the ruling to a higher court. There is also considerable precedent for allowing a voter-approved gerrymander to take effect, as the Supreme Court this year cleared the way for California to use its own new Democrat-favored districts after major challenges from Republicans.

Concerns are also brewing about the next Republican-favoring gerrymander taking shape in Florida, which The Hill warned might not be a "slam dunk."

"Some Republicans have expressed concerns that a Republican-led redistricting effort in the Sunshine State could endanger incumbents amid Democratic victories in recent state and local elections," the report explained.

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