A founding member of the House Freedom Caucus has settled on his pick for the 2028 presidential race following the steep losses Republicans suffered in Tuesday night's midterm elections.
Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital he is backing Secretary of State Marco Rubio, declaring "I am all in" and urging fellow Republicans to start thinking about how to rebuild after the election. "He can be a unifier," Stutzman said.
Stutzman also told Fox News Digital that Republicans "have to do better at communicating," arguing the party "can't push policy" now that it has lost both the House and Senate majorities.
One messaging shift he proposed involves immigration. "We need to get off the deportation messages, take credit for closing the border, and now start finding a path forward for those here illegally obeying the laws," Stutzman said. "No citizenship just work visas."
Tuesday night brought a wave of Democratic victories across federal and state contests. In the House, Democrats scored upsets not only in battleground districts but also in seats long considered safe Republican territory. Dozens of races remain uncalled, but Democrats are projected to hold at least 54 Senate seats. In the House, they are projected to win 240 seats so far, against 147 projected for Republicans. Democrats also captured governorships in Texas and Iowa in surprise wins.
Within hours of the results becoming clear, Republican factions began openly debating how the party should recover and chart a path forward.
Vice President JD Vance moved quickly to distance himself from the war in Iran, which is viewed as one of the largest factors driving voters away from the GOP. "The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night," Vance wrote in a lengthy statement 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. And any honest conversation about where we go from here must start there."
Both Vance and Rubio are seen as leading Republican contenders for the 2028 presidential nomination. What remains uncertain is whether their senior positions in the Trump administration will weigh down their potential campaigns in the same way.
