Cornyn: Republicans Forgot How to Win Elections

Editor’s note: This column by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, was first published Nov. 4, 2026, in The Wall Street Journal and was distributed by his office. Opinions expressed are those of the author.

Even before the polls closed on Tuesday, an epic blame game had begun. How did Republicans fumble the success of 2024 into this midterm meltdown? How did we lose so many Senate seats, including in my home state of Texas, a conservative cornerstone for more than three decades and a state Donald Trump carried by 14 points in 2024?

Die-hard Never Trumpers will rush to eulogize the MAGA movement. Some populists will shop a stab-in-the-back narrative that blames the traditional conservatives they themselves chased away. But both sides miss the point. This week’s beat-down wasn’t only foreseeable, it was foreseen, because our party forgot four basic rules of coalition politics.

First, successful coalitions add, they don’t subtract. In 2024, a unified Republican Party dominated among the white working class, won Hispanic men outright and won the largest share of black voters since the 1970s. Lifelong conservatives and first-time Republican voters all embraced our message of lower prices, border security, cultural sanity and American strength. This year, losing candidates like Ken Paxton and Mike Collins shrank the tent, obsessing over “RINOs” and political theater. In Texas, statewide candidate Bo French poisoned the well even further with blatant bigotry against Indian-Americans, anathema to the party of Lincoln and Reagan. When nominees show contempt for voters and request a smaller Republican Party, voters oblige them.

The second forgotten lesson was even simpler: Be likeable. We are no longer in 2010, when articulate, appealing conservatives like Marco Rubio and Pat Toomey challenged “establishment” candidates over real policy differences. Today, it is fringe challengers who play down voting records and policy in favor of performative politics. A strange reverse personality test has taken root. If a candidate talks like an affable, reasonable person, he must be a sellout. If he makes bizarre comments or has past scandals, that’s considered authenticity. The oddball Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky (who lost his primary this year) once described his base as seeking “the craziest son of a bitch in the race.” This is a losing mindset that Republicans must outgrow. It selects for nominees who can’t win general elections.

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Third, when you win, do what you promised. In 2020, President Biden won a narrow mandate to restore normalcy, but advisers talked him into open borders, inflationary spending and unrestrained wokeism. In 2024, the American people rebelled and hired back President Trump to re-create the strong pre-Covid economy that Republican policies teed up during my time as Senate Republican whip. Voters remembered the 2019 economy (low inflation, low unemployment, real wage growth) and trusted Mr. Trump and the Republicans over Kamala Harris and the Democrats to protect their pocketbooks.

What have those kitchen-table voters received since? There have been some significant policy wins that I proudly backed, such as the Working Families Tax Cuts, deregulation and sensible energy policies. But in key areas, Mr. Trump repeated Mr. Biden’s mistake and misread his mandate. Voters wanted to retool our trading relationships, but got arbitrary “Liberation Day” tariffs that raised prices without creating incentives for long-term reshoring. Voters wanted secure borders and peaceful streets, but got hyperaggressive immigration enforcement. The Iran conflict came with no attempt to persuade the public. And Mr. Trump signaled disconnection by focusing on sideshows like swimming-pool liners in the Reflecting Pool. Americans elected the Donald Trump who put on the apron of the Golden Arches and got a plan for a Triumphal Arch instead.

Fourth, character and integrity still matter. When Republicans force voters to choose between policy and personal character, it is unfair to them and suicidal for us. Here in Texas, traditional conservatives and independents were asked to swallow an almost comical list of personal scandals and improprieties. Pre-election polls showed that corruption had surged toward the top of voter anxieties, thanks to flawed midterm candidates and a parade of unsavory headlines out of Washington. Voters won’t trust Republicans to cut fraud and scams out of government programs until we cut them out of our own ranks. Party leaders have to stop excusing the inexcusable and police our side of the aisle, or voters will continue to police it for us.

I was honored to spend four decades serving the people of Texas as a judge, attorney general and a U.S. senator. I never lost a general election. I am sorry that because of unforced political errors, my party, this administration and our country will miss an opportunity to make progress that was within reach.

But I remain optimistic, because a better playbook is right in front of us. We know what the American people want because they showed us: a big-tent Republican Party, competent, focused on Americans’ daily concerns, with room for traditional conservatives and MAGA supporters alike.

That is the path back to a governing majority in 2028. Anyone who is willing to turn the page, restore integrity and rebuild our party can count me in.

Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, is a member of the Senate Finance, Judiciary, Intelligence, Foreign Relations and Budget committees.