House Speaker Mike Johnson claims that the recent series of Democratic election wins is nothing but a fluke.
Speaking with Fox News’s Bret Baier on Thursday, the Louisiana lawmaker said he doesn’t believe the rising blue wave insinuates anything about the upcoming midterms in November.
“The Mar-a-Lago flip,” host Bret Baier said to Johnson. “Democrats win the Trump hometown Florida house district. This is a state House race. Emily Gregory defeated the Trump-endorsed GOP state House candidate in a hotly contested race... As you look at that, do you see a canary in the coal mine about November?”
“I don’t at all,” Johnson replied. “In fact, I’ve talked with the president about this after that election result came in, and his team. These special elections are a one-off, and they’re anomalies. That’s why we call them special.”
“I am very bullish about November,” he added, “very bullish about the midterms.”
“Even right now? Even looking at everything that’s coming up?” Baier asked.
“Absolutely right,” the House speaker replied. “And I’d give you a very boring 90-minute slideshow, Bret, to prove to you all the reasons we’re going to win. We don’t have it.”
Johnson, 54, said that Republicans have a good record of “promises made, promises kept,” adding that they have better candidates and more funding.
“We have a president running like he is on the ballot,” he added, “and he is out doing rallies around the country and rallying the base.”
“I feel very good about this,” Johnson concluded. “I believe we’re going to defy history and grow the Republican majority in the House.”
On Tuesday, Democrat Emily Gregory stunned the nation when she defeated Trump-backed Republican Jon Maples in a special election for Florida House District 87, which includes Mar-a-Lago.
Trump, who had endorsed Maples in the election and voted for him by mail, despite railing against the practice as “mail-in cheating” and staying at Mar-a-Lago the last two weekends, had won the district in 2024 by 11 points.
Gregory’s win follows a string of other Democratic upsets, including Democrat Brian Nathan’s win in Tampa Bay on Tuesday and Bobbi Boudman’s surprise special election victory over Republican Dale Fincher in New Hampshire earlier this month.
CNN’s chief data correspondent Harry Enten said that Gregory’s win is indicative of a broader blue shift across the country in response to negative sentiment toward the second Trump administration.
“What is happening right now in Mar-a-Lago is unlikely to stay in Mar-a-Lago,” he said. “It is likely to expand nationwide and to expand in the midterm elections as well.”
Enten said there’s been an average shift of double digits toward Democrats across dozens of special elections nationwide.
“Historically speaking, special elections have forecasted what will happen in the midterm elections,” he said.
