Republican leaders are asking tough questions about the future in wake of disappointing results from the 2022 midterms.
According to pre-Election Day polls, Republicans were favored to sweep Congress and state offices in a "red wave."
History was on the GOP's side: a president's party almost always loses during a midterm election. (FiveThirtyEight)
But, the GOP's long-anticipated "red wave" didn't come to pass: Republicans lost a slew of key races across the country.
For starters, Republicans failed to retain Pennsylvania's Senate seat—a must-win in their bid to flip the chamber.
Republicans also failed to flip New Hampshire's Senate seat, one of their biggest targets in the 2022 cycle.
What's more, Democrats retained several endangered incumbent governors, while flipping two governors' mansions.
Democrats also flipped state legislatures in Minnesota and Michigan, notching a full blue trifecta in the latter.
And, while Republicans are still favored to win the House, their governing majority will likely be razor-thin.
What's to blame for the Republicans' historic midterm underperformance? Many blamed the quality of Trump-picked candidates.
Several pundits pointed out that Trump-endorsed candidates vastly underperformed other Republicans on the ballot.
In Ohio and New Hampshire, Trump's Senate candidates underperformed their gubernatorial counterparts by 20+ points.
In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp cruised to reelection by 7.6 points, while Herschel Walker trailed his race by 0.9 points. (AP)
The extremism of some Trump-picked Republican candidates may have also doomed the party with swing voters.
According to CNN's exit poll, Democrats won independent voters Tue. by a 49–47 margin—a historic midterm performance.
Republicans' extreme stance on abortion access also appears to have hurt their chances on Election Day.
According to NBC News' exit poll Tue., abortion was the second most important issue for voters on Election Day.