U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) arrives to attend a state dinner held by US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump for Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, in Washington, D.C., US, September 24, 2026.
On Thursday, Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) warned conservatives that their party is poised to take historic midterm losses, lamenting that “disgruntled Republicans” have been turned off by MAGA candidates endorsed by President Donald Trump. Daines – who chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2024 and is retiring at the end of this term – begged Republican voters to "get over" their anger to remember that Supreme Court seats could be at risk.
“It's a tough environment,” admitted Daines, who was speaking at the Grand Strategy Summit held by the Richard Nixon Foundation. “There arguably could be some similarities between the ‘06 cycle and the 2026 cycle. Think about the condition of the country back in ‘06. An unpopular war. Six in ten Americans opposed the Iraq war at that point. Gas prices had doubled. Does this sound familiar? And we ended up losing six seats. That was a night we lost some redder states. That's when Jim Talent lost in Missouri. That's when Sherrod Brown won in Ohio and beat DeWine. That's when in the state of Montana, John Tester beat Conrad Burns by the narrowest margin. Those were three of the six pickup seats that the Democrats got that night. Today, six in 10 Americans oppose the Iran war. Gas prices…enough said on gas prices. And so there's an argument, if you look at history, that 2026 feels a lot like 2006.”
Daines revealed that he’d spoken with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles earlier in the week, urging that “as the president is out on the stump, closing this election out, I think it's important to remind Republican voters, the Supreme Court's on the ballot again.” According to Daines, “disgruntled Republicans” have been pushed away by the nomination of Ken Paxton, a firmly MAGA candidate riddled with corruption scandals who won with Trump’s endorsement over the more moderate Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). “John Cornyn is a dear friend of mine,” said Daines. “I supported John Cornyn in the, in the Texas primary. If John Cornyn were on the ballot in Texas right now, we wouldn't be spending -- looks like the price is gonna be $300 million on the Republican side alone in Texas trying to save that race.”
Here Daines ended with a plea to “disgruntled Cornyn Republicans,” saying, “You need to show up and vote, because if Sotomayor or Clarence Thomas announced their retirement or if there was a sickness or a death, the Supreme Court is back in play in the last two years of Trump's administration. Imagine for a moment a Supreme Court nomination opens up and Chuck Schumer's Majority Leader.” He concludes with a blunt word of advice, telling voters to “get over the fact you're upset, angry,” because in his assessment, “if the Democrats take the Senate in ‘26, I think it makes it tougher sledding here for ‘28 in the presidential. If they get the presidential in ‘28 and have the presidency, the House, and the Senate, the filibuster is gone. The Supreme Court is 13 justices. Puerto Rico and DC are states and all the election integrity laws states have passed will be usurped by a federal law. That's not fear-mongering. That's the truth. And I say that as somebody who's been in the United States Senate for 12 years. That is coming in ‘29 if we don't take care of business here at the ballot box.”
