Ted Cruz confronts 'Watergate-level repudiation' with eye on 2028

WASHINGTON – Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the midterm rout for Democrats was a "Watergate-level repudiation" as he confronted a new reality in which he's the only Republican left in statewide office in Texas, for decades the epicenter of Republican politics.

Cruz, who has made no secret about his interest in running for president in 2028, tried to make sense of the midterm drubbing in a lengthy Nov. 4 post on X. In a historic rebuke, Democrats took control of the U.S. House and Senate ‒ notching several wins in historically red states like Texas ‒ and transformed the political landscape in the Lone Star State.

"Texas is blue. That is a hard sentence to utter. But Texas, today at least, is blue," Cruz said. "As we sit here today, I am the only statewide elected Republican who remains in Texas. That’s not something I ever thought I would say."

In Texas, the Republican losses went far deeper than Democrat James Talarico's 12-point Senate victory over Republican Ken Paxton and Gov. Greg Abbott's loss to Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa. Republicans lost every statewide election ‒ including races for lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, and agriculture, railroad and land commissioner. Democrats won all four seats up for grabs on the Texas Supreme Court and swept races for the Texas Board of Education.

"For months, we were saying that 2026 was the most consequential midterm election of our lifetimes. Unfortunately, we were right," Cruz said.

"Sometimes history is to be celebrated; other times, it is to be mourned. Always, it must be reckoned with," he added. "2026 was not simply a blue wave; it was a blue tsunami. It was an ass kicking. It was not simply a bad 2006 midterm election. It was a Watergate-level repudiation. What happened, and why? What are the consequences, and where on earth do we go from here?"

Iran war has 'dragged on too long,' Cruz says

Cruz read his post-midterm breakdown on his podcast, where for weeks before the midterms he had warned that Republicans were in jeopardy of losing Texas.

He blamed President Donald Trump's tariffs for "making everything too expensive" and he said the war in Iran has "dragged on too long."

"It should have been brief, decisive, and over," Cruz said, distancing himself from a war Trump defended throughout the midterm campaign. "It needs to end, and we should never, under any circumstances, give the Ayatollah billions of dollars."

Cruz also suggested a "very real economic disconnect" led to sweeping Republican losses.

He pointed to businessman Elon Musk ‒ who pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into Republicans' midterm efforts ‒ becoming the world's first trillionaire "at the very same time that millions were struggling to feed their families." He said data centers under construction are "turning billionaires into centimillionaires, while simultaneously the average American’s electricity bill went up 30% in the last five years."

"Our K-shaped economy is a yawning divide," Cruz said. "Understandably, people were pissed off, and elected Republicans didn’t do enough to address their very real pain."

Cruz predicts Democrats will 'overshoot' and 'overeach'

Cruz said Republicans lost support in the midterms from blue-collar voters, who have become the party's base, and didn't get the turnout Republicans have come to expect from evangelical voters. He said Republicans "alienated rural America" and lost all the gains from traditionally Democratic voters who shifted to the Republican column in the 2024 election, including young voters and Hispanic voters.

"For Hispanics, there’s a strong overlap with young people and blue-collar workers," Cruz said. "In 2024, just two years ago, I was proud to carry Hispanics statewide in Texas by six points, and we swung the Rio Grande Valley red for the first time in a century. It can be done, but in this election, those Hispanic voters overwhelmingly went back Democrat. We have got to turn that around."

Several Republicans, including Cruz and Vice President JD Vance, are expected to jump in the 2028 Republican presidential primary to try to become Trump's successor. The Democratic field for 2028 is also wide open. Cruz is up for reelection for his Senate seat in 2030. On multiple occasions, Trump has suggested nominating Cruz to the Supreme Court if a vacancy arises, but Cruz has said he's not interested in being a justice.

With Republicans unable to bank on winning Texas in 2028, like they have in past elections, the party faces major electoral challenges in the next presidential race.

Cruz said Republicans need to get behind policies that "directly benefit the constituents we lost." And despite the midterm repudiation, Cruz predicted Democrats in Washington and Texas will "overshoot" and "overreach" by advancing extreme policies that fail to deliver the change that voters want.

"People voted as they did because they were angry," he said. "Ironically, the Democrats that they elected are going to advance policies that will make affordability worse"

Cruz vowed Republicans will "rebuild as true blue-collar party" and win back Texas. "Texas will be red again," he said. "We have not suddenly become a bunch of tofu-eating, gun-banning, tutu-wearing pinko commie liberals. That ain’t us. Texas is still Texas."

"It is dark right now, but it is always darkest before the dawn, and morning is coming. That is my fervent prayer, and that is my commitment to you," he added.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.