Long Island Republicans reckon with party's future, Trump's role after Democratic 'tsunami'

WASHINGTON — A day after a Democratic "tsunami" came the Republican reckoning as party leaders on Long Island and beyond spoke openly about how to rebuild after stunning losses in Tuesday’s elections.

Republicans, saddled by President Donald Trump’s low approval ratings and voter angst over his economic policies, lost control of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, lost five governorships in Republican strongholds — and on Long Island, lost five State Senate and Assembly seats and the Hempstead Town supervisor post, among other losses.

While local Republican leaders, in interviews with Newsday, boasted that Nassau and Suffolk fared well compared with other swing districts throughout the United States, several said the party needed to find a new message beyond Trump’s firebrand style of politics.

“The day of Trump is over,” said former U.S. Rep. Peter King, a Seaford Republican, in a phone interview.

King — who served as an adviser to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman in his unsuccessful bid to unseat Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul — said Trump, who campaigned in New York three times on behalf of Blakeman, failed to “articulate a coherent message” to voters.

Trump on Wednesday conceded that the ongoing war in Iran and rising gas prices may have led to Republican losses, but he told reporters at the White House, referring to the Iran war: “If I had to do again, I'd have to do it again, because long term, it's the only answer.”

Trump’s acknowledgment came shortly after Vice President JD Vance, in a lengthy X post, blamed the war for Republican losses.

“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,” Vance wrote. “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.”

King said local Republicans moving forward should continue speaking to voters’ everyday concerns.

“People want their garbage picked up, and the streets to be clean — we attend to that, we keep our eye on both the big picture and the day-to-day picture, and it’s a matter of reminding voters of what we do,” King said of Republicans.

Suffolk GOP chairman Jesse Garcia said despite the ground gained by Democrats, local Republicans “stopped that tsunami from hitting our shores here in Suffolk.”

“Listen, did we take a little bit of water in? We did, but we fared better than many localities throughout the state of New York,” Garcia said in a phone interview.

Garcia said he did not blame Trump entirely for Tuesday’s outcome, noting that “midterm elections are always difficult for the party that holds the White House,” and said the local party has always believed its strongest strategy is to focus on addressing hyperlocal concerns.

Nassau GOP chairman Joe Cairo, speaking at the local party’s election night event in East Meadow, told Republicans on hand: “You give 110%, you give your best. The other team is better. You just accept it, and you try to do better in the future.”

Democrats, as of Wednesday, had flipped 25 House seats and were expected to notch more wins. Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) and Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) held onto their seats by narrow margins despite both holding sizable campaign fundraising advantages over their Democratic challengers and posting double-digit victories two years ago.

“We knew it was going to be close,” said Republican campaign strategist Michael Dawidziak, of Bayport, who advised Garbarino’s campaign. “We knew going in, it’s not going to be a good year … you're running in a tsunami year.”

Dawidziak said both Democrats and Republicans nationwide are struggling with an “identity crisis,” adding that Republicans need to figure out their new identity moving forward and whether it would hearken back to some of the more moderate voices in the party.

Republicans have “got to now seriously look themselves in the face and say, ‘What kind of party do we want to be?’ ” Dawidziak said. “Do we want to be the party of Elon Musk, and billionaires? Or do we want to get back to” elevating more moderate voices like the late Sen. John McCain and former President George H.W. Bush, he said.

Asked about Tuesday’s results, LaLota in a statement said he was “disappointed by the national results,” before adding “the new Congress gives both parties a chance to continue focusing on real results for affordability, border security and national security, instead of partisan impeachments and political score-settling.”

The White House on Wednesday evening, meanwhile, said in a statement the president was prepared to fight the incoming Democratic majority if it tries to reverse his actions over the past two years, and defended the president's record.

The statement said: "Every time the Radical Left, the Fake News, and the professional panic class have written President Trump’s obituary, they have been wrong. They will be wrong again."

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.