GOP faces reality check as they try to hold onto House majority

Republicans are heading into the final stretch of the midterm race recognizing a blunt message: Voters are frustrated, and acknowledging those frustrations might be key to keeping them in the GOP column.

Republicans have been increasingly framing the election as a choice between “common sense” versus “communist crazy” — arguing that democratic socialist and progressive candidates would make life worse for the American people.

At the same time, the party is confronting the limits of running on its record in Washington at a moment when gas prices, grocery costs, a chaotic immigration crackdown and the war with Iran have given voters fresh reasons to question the direction of the country and put Republicans on the defensive.

Vice President Vance underscored that reality during a closed-door House Republican meeting Tuesday, urging lawmakers to level with voters rather than paper over their frustrations — and place the fault squarely on Democrats.

“Right now we have a country where people are frustrated. You got to level with them,” Vance said, according to audio obtained by The Hill. “You got to be honest about those frustrations, and you got to be honest about the ways in which the Democrats caused the problems that you guys have been very diligently fixing over the past 18 months.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sent lawmakers home early on Wednesday, canceling votes on Thursday and scrapping the last two weeks of the September session. He argued that much of the legislative agenda has been stalled in the Senate and that lawmakers could spend the extra time on the campaign trail. 

Still, the stakes are particularly high for Republicans in the lower chamber, who are defending a razor-thin majority heading into an election cycle where the president’s party historically faces defeat.

“This midterm is going to be a f—ing bloodbath,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who is exiting Congress after losing the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, told reporters Wednesday. “There’s a lot at stake. The Senate is at stake. The House is at stake. The future of our country is at stake. I would tell you that the midterms of 2026 are a precursor to 2028.”

Asked whether she thinks Republicans will win the midterms, Mace said, “No, I don’t.”

“I’m concerned about it. When the economy is........

© The Hill