Trump Says Republicans Would Have Won in a Landslide if He Were on the Ballot
Election Night 2026 delivered a fast-moving mix of wins, losses, projections, and tense reactions. Townhall’s live feed tracked the results as polls closed across the West Coast and several major races began taking shape.
The latest poll-closing update said voting had ended across California, Idaho’s Pacific Time zone, Oregon, and Washington. The update directed readers to follow additional results as the remaining races developed.
President Trump also weighed in on Truth Social, arguing that Republicans would have performed much better if he had been on the ballot.
“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The live feed also pointed readers toward Scott Jennings’ up-to-the-minute election analysis.
In Minnesota, Republican Michele Tafoya was leading Democrat Peggy Flanagan in the Senate race, though many votes remained to be counted. With an estimated 7% of the vote in, Decision Desk HQ listed Tafoya with 114,307 votes, or 55.5%, compared with Flanagan’s 86,119 votes, or 41.8%.
Several major race calls followed. In Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, Decision Desk HQ projected Democrat Shannon Taylor as the winner at 10:28 PM EST. The result was described in the feed as another House seat lost by Republicans in the state.
Arkansas provided Republicans with a bright spot. Decision Desk HQ projected Senator Tom Cotton as the winner of the state’s Senate election at 10:33 PM EST.
Texas, however, moved sharply in the other direction. Decision Desk HQ called the Senate race for James Talarico, a result that would give Democrats their first senator in Texas since 1993. The projection was marked at 10:14 PM EST.
Kansas also became a major concern for Republicans. One update warned that Senator Roger Marshall was about to lose the state, but the excerpt did not list a final call. Another reaction described the shift map as looking like a bomb had gone off.
The reaction among conservatives grew increasingly blunt as the night continued. Matt Vespa acknowledged the scale of the losses in a direct assessment.
“Okay, i’ll eat crow. We got wrecked tonight. It happens. It won’t be the first or last losing cycle for Republicans. Onward.”
Vespa also called it highly disturbing that many voters backed candidates he described as “outright insane and mentally ill.”
Amy Curtis urged conservatives not to give up, writing: “The attitude going forward should be to fight. Fight the insanity. Fight for America. Not a great night, but I’m not giving up.”
The results in the feed remained fluid, with some races projected and others still being counted. The original live coverage is available at Townhall.