Former Cruz spokesperson: ‘It’s going to be a bad night’ for Republicans in midterms

GOP political operative Rick Tyler said Wednesday the Republican Party is facing “a lot of problems” headed into the November elections, as the GOP vies to maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

During an appearance on “CNN News Central,” the former spokesperson for Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R) 2016 presidential campaign cited tight midterm races in Alaska, Michigan, Iowa and Ohio.

“It’s going to be a bad night for Republicans,” Tyler said, referring to Election Day. “It just is. How bad? We don’t know.”

While Tyler acknowledged affordability concerns were “the main issue” for voters this election cycle, he warned against reading these election results as a referendum on President Trump’s handling of the economy and the Iran war.

“That’s not what it is; it is just a rejection of the status quo,” he said. “And that’s all it is, and that’s what the Democrats ought to read into it. They won’t — they’ll overreach.”

The Republican operative also pointed to the enthusiasm gap between each party’s voter base. In an AP-NORC poll released Thursday, 76 percent of registered Democratic voters and 63 percent of registered Republican voters said voting this November was “extremely important” to them.

“If you look at who’s excited to vote and who’s not excited to vote, it’s clear that the Democrats have a huge advantage in being excited to go out and vote because they feel like they can win the House,” Tyler said. “I think they most certainly will, and they could win the Senate. And that’s what remains to be seen.”

Election forecaster Decision Desk HQ pegs Democrats’ chances of winning back control of the House at 77 percent and their chances of winning the majority in the Senate at 56 percent, as of Thursday.