Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley said Tuesday that the midterm elections, in which the Republican Party failed to regain a majority in the Senate, was the end of the current GOP.
“I think that this election was the funeral for the Republican Party as we know it. The Republican Party is — as we have known it — is dead. And voters have made that clear,” Hawley told reporters Tuesday on Capitol Hill.
A number of outlets, including NBC and Fox, declared Saturday that incumbent Democratic Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto had won her race against Republican challenger Adam Laxalt, assuring Democrats of at least 50 seats in the upper chamber. That advantage could grow to 51 seats if Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock is able to hold off Republican Herschel Walker in the December runoff. (RELATED: Dems Keep Control Of Senate — Incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto Defeats Republican Adam Laxalt In Nevada)
WATCH:
Senator @HawleyMO: “I think that this election was the funeral for the Republican Party as we know it. The Republican Party is, as we have known it, is dead. And voters have made that clear.” pic.twitter.com/1WGXUvbuhS
— The Hill (@thehill) November 15, 2022
Some Republican senators, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, have blamed the disappointing midterm results on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. During a Monday podcast, Cruz said the GOP should have won a majority in the Senate and blamed McConnell for not supporting Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters. Masters lost to incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, who outspent the political newcomer nearly eightfold. (RELATED: ‘So Pissed Off, I Cannot Even See Straight’ — Ted Cruz Blames Mitch McConnell For GOP Midterm Losses)
Cruz also said that “the country is screwed for the next four years” due to the GOP’s failure to regain the majority, claiming that “because of this, we’re gonna see horrible left-wing judges confirmed for the next two years.”
“We’re gonna see judges taking away our free speech rights, our religious liberty rights, our Second Amendment rights,” Cruz continued. “It is an enormous missed opportunity. And I gotta say, it is hard to describe my feelings as anything other than rage.”
Cruz’s criticisms echo former President Donald Trump’s attacks on McConnell over the Blake Masters campaign Trump’s critics have responded that the former president did not use the $100 million his PAC has collected to support GOP candidates in the midterms.
“McConnell allied groups spent $13.1M in Arizona,” a spokesperson for McConnell-affiliated PAC One Nation told the Daily Caller.
According to The New York Times, Steven Law, who heads One Nation, said over the summer that Masters was not a likeable candidate and received the worst feedback from focus groups that he had ever seen.