Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Wednesday described the historic Democratic victory in the midterm elections as a “kick in the butt” for Republicans, and urged the party to deliver on its economic promises in the next cycle. “It wasn’t just a bad midterm election in 2006, it was a Watergate-level repudiation,” Cruz said in an episode of his podcast, describing the Democratic shift across the country as a “blue tsunami.” Cruz, who is not up for re-election until 2030, said that “people were understandably angry” as “Republicans did not do enough to address their very real pain.” He pointed to rising tariff costs and prolonging the Iran war for “too long,” adding: “Food is too high, gas is too high, diesel is too high, insurance is too high, life is too high.” “It seems like too many Republican politicians didn’t understand or didn’t care,” he said. NBC News exit polls found that more than 80% of voters said they were worried about the prices of basic necessities: gasoline and diesel, food, utilities and health care. “We need to listen and respond. We need to advocate for economic policies that make a real difference in the lives of workers, and we need to deal with the consequences,” Cruz said. Cruz said he called his new colleague, Democratic Sen.-elect James Talarico, to congratulate him on his victory. “I will work with Democrats when they are willing to be reasonable,” he said. “It was a nice conversation and I told him I looked forward to working with him to try to benefit Texas.” However, he also said: “Texas will be red again.” “We haven’t suddenly become a bunch of tofu-eating, gun-banning, tutu-wearing pink communist liberals. That’s not us. Texas is still Texas,” Cruz said. “We will rebuild ourselves as a true labor party not by embracing socialism, but by being true conservatives of the free market.” In his own analysis of the election, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who lost the Republican Senate primary in May to state Attorney General Ken Paxton, also acknowledged Republicans’ shortcomings on the economy. In 2024, voters “trusted Mr. Trump and the Republicans over Kamala Harris and the Democrats to protect their pocketbooks,” Cornyn wrote in an op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal. However, Cornyn also argued that the party “forgot” how to win elections and instead favored “performative politics.” “When Republicans force voters to choose between politics and personal character, it is unfair to them and suicidal to us,” he wrote. “We know what the American people want because they showed it to us: a large, competent Republican Party, focused on the daily concerns of Americans, with room for both traditional conservatives and MAGA supporters.” Cornyn wrote that “anyone willing to turn the page, restore integrity and rebuild our party can count on me.” Democrats prevailed statewide Tuesday, with Talarico ending 38 years of Republican dominance over the Senate seat and Gina Hinojosa making history as Texas’ first Latina governor and the first Democratic governor in more than three decades.
