Trump’s plan to steal the midterm elections by forcing red states to consolidate more Republican seats in the House of Representatives was a poorly thought-out effort with great potential to backfire upon its launch.
The president assumed Democrats would not fight back. Trump also assumed that red states would line up across the country to carry out his wishes.
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Democrats fought back by playing by the same rules set by Trump. In California, Democrats adopted a new map that could give them five seats in the House. In red states like Kansas and Indiana, Republicans refused to redraw their maps. Ohio Republicans rejected a large-scale gerrymander and opted for a fairer map after House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries threatened them with a referendum.
The second biggest shoe to drop came in the purple state of Virginia, which was never going to generate margins as large as the California referendum, but represented the Republican Party’s best chance to end the crisis caused by Trump.
Polls showed the amendment to temporarily redraw the map until the 2030 census was close, and the vote was close, but ultimately Yes was expected to win, meaning Donald Trump potentially cost Republicans four additional House seats and their House majority.
What needs to be emphasized is that this is all a self-inflicted wound.