GOP senator says midterms could be like 2006: ‘And 2006 was really bad for Republicans’

Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) is warning that Republicans could get drubbed in this year’s midterm election, much like what happened to Republicans 20 years ago during former President George W. Bush’s second midterm elections, when the GOP lost control of both the House and Senate.

Daines, who headed the Senate Republican campaign arm in the last election cycle, says there are alarming similarities between the 2026 and 2006 elections that don’t bode well for GOP candidates, such as the nation being mired in an unpopular war and high gas prices.

“There arguably could be some similarities between the ’06 cycle and the 2026 cycle. Think about the condition of the country back in ’06. An unpopular war, 6 in 10 Americans opposed the Iraq War at that point. Gas prices had doubled. Does it sound familiar? We ended up losing six seats,” Daines said at the Grand Strategy Summit in Washington.

“That was a night, by the way, we lost some redder states,” he added.

Republicans held a five-seat majority in the Senate at the start of the 2006 election cycle, and most political handicappers projected they would keep their majority at the start of the cycle, but they wound up losing six seats because of voter anger over the war in Iraq, high gas prices and scandals in Washington.

GOP senators lost in several Republican-leaning states that year, including Sen. Mike DeWine (R), who lost to Democrat Sherrod Brown in Ohio; Sen. Conrad Burns (R), who lost to Democrat Jon Tester in Montana; and Sen. Jim Talent (R) who lost to Democrat Claire McCaskill in Missouri.

“Today 6 in 10 Americans oppose the Iran war. Gas prices — enough said on gas prices. There’s an argument, if you look at history, that 2026 feels a lot like 2006,” Daines said.

Democrats picked up 32 seats in the House in 2006, giving the Speaker’s gavel to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

Former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) became the Senate majority leader in 2007.

President Trump acknowledged on Thursday that “it’s possible” that the Iran war could cost Republicans seats in Congress this November.

Trump registered only a 26 percent job approval rating in an Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs poll of 2,140 U.S. adults conducted from Sept. 24 to 28.

The survey showed that 69 percent of Americans think the war with Iran has not been worth fighting, and only 28 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of the conflict.

Decision Desk HQ gives Democrats a 75 percent chance of winning the House in November and a 54 percent chance of winning the Senate.