Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, on Wednesday called Democrats’ historic victory in the midterm elections a “kick in the ass” for Republicans, urging 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 rejection on the scale of Watergate,” Cruz said in an episode of his podcast, describing the Democratic shift across the country as a “blue tsunami.”
Cruz, who isn’t up for re-election until 2030, said that “understandably, people were upset” because “Republicans haven’t done enough to address their very real pain.”
He pointed to rising costs and the war in Iran lasting “too long,” adding: “Food is too expensive, gasoline is too expensive, diesel is too expensive, insurance is too expensive, life is too expensive.” »
“Too many Republican politicians seem not to understand or don’t care,” he said.
NBC News exit polls found that more than 80% of voters said they were concerned about the prices of basic necessities: gasoline and diesel, food and groceries, utilities and health care.
“We must listen and respond. We must advocate for economic policies that make a real difference in the lives of workers, and we must face 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 the Democrats when they want 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 didn’t suddenly become a bunch of tofu-eating, gun-banning, tutu-wearing communist liberals. That’s not us. Texas is still Texas,” Cruz said. “We will rebuild ourselves to become a true working-class party, not by embracing socialism, but by being true free-market conservatives. »
In his own analysis of the election, Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, who lost the Republican Senate primary in May to 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 wallets,” 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 their policies and their character, it is unfair for them and suicidal for us,” he wrote. “We know what the American people want because they’ve shown us: a big, competent Republican Party focused on the everyday concerns of Americans, with room for traditional conservatives and MAGA supporters.”
Cornyn wrote that “anyone who is ready to turn the page, restore integrity, and rebuild our party can count me among us.”
Democrats prevailed across the state Tuesday, with Talarico ending 38 years of Republican Party dominance of the Senate seat and Gina Hinojosa making history as Texas’ first Latino governor and first Democratic governor in more than three decades.
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