Vance blames Iran war for Republican midterm losses

Vice President JD Vance blamed the war with Iran for Republicans’ loss of both chambers of Congress in Tuesday’s midterm elections, saying the party must confront why some of its 2024 voters backed Democrats this year.

“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” Vance wrote Wednesday in a lengthy post on X. “If you’d like to argue it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next 6 years was worth it, then do so. Argue it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest. But everyone knows why we lost.”

Vance said an unnamed pollster had identified four issues Republicans needed to address to regain voters’ support: ending the war, tackling the cost of living and inflation, putting America first, and changing the U.S. relationship with Israel. “Our voters showed up,” he wrote. “And the above four reasons are why many of them voted for Democrats.”

He argued that turnout was not the party’s main problem. In Florida, Vance said, the electorate was nine points more Republican than Democratic, only a few points below its 2024 level. He also acknowledged that Republicans’ economic message may not have been sharp enough in the campaign’s final weeks.

Democrats are expected to hold at least 54 Senate seats after winning 10 of 11 battleground states, according to CBS News. Races in Alaska and Mississippi remain unresolved. CBS News estimates Democrats will hold between 251 and 268 House seats once all votes are counted.

President Donald Trump has also acknowledged a link between the war and the election result, though he continues to defend his decision to launch the conflict. “Iran was a piece of it,” he told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, according to NBC News. “I don’t think about it. I did the right thing. I would have done it again.” Trump also argued that Republicans would have won had he been on the ballot.

The United States and Israel began strikes on Iran in late February. Trump initially pledged the war would last four to five weeks, but it has stretched into an eighth month as fuel prices have risen. He told CBS News on Tuesday that Tehran must not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and said the war would end “when I say it ends.” The Defense Department says 23 U.S. service members have been killed and 865 wounded in the conflict, according to CBS News.

Vance spent much of the spring leading U.S. negotiators in talks aimed at ending the fighting. An agreement he reached with Iran to halt it soon fell apart, CBS News reported. On Wednesday, he called Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy’s recommendation for a “diplomatic resolution” sound.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said his party’s priorities after taking control would be reducing costs, addressing corruption and checking Trump’s actions at home and abroad. “The American people don’t know what the heck we’re fighting for in Iran,” he said, according to The Guardian. “We are going to end the war.”