Republicans see political wins ahead of midterm elections

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:02]Welcome to this week's edition of America Decides. It has been a big week for the GOP with several wins as we move closer to the midterm elections. Today, Virginia's Supreme Court tossed out a new voter passed congressional map that favored Democrats. The new map would have given Democrats an advantage in 10 House districts leaving just one safe Republican seat. Joining me now is our CBS News political director and executive director of politics and the White House, our political guru, Fin Gomez. Here at CBS, the GOP, as we've been reporting, the GOP had a big win when it came to redistricting in states like Virginia and Tennessee. How big a difference is that going to make in these midterm elections? Because typically the midterms are a referendum on the current administration, right? But with these new changes, could Republicans maintain the majority here?

[00:00:54]Well, that's a great question, Liz. I mean, look, this reversal by the Virginia Supreme Court is a huge blow to the House Democrats. There's no sugarcoating that. And a big win for Republicans. And it caps off a brutal 10-day period for the Democratic Party on redistricting. Remember this, the US Supreme Court recently ruled recently ruled on the the Voting Rights Act and signifi- significantly weakened its opening the door for more aggressive Republican redraws. Tennessee Republicans passed a new Republican-friendly map yesterday. On Thursday, Louisiana's on track to erase at least one democratically held seat.

[00:01:29]And there are Republican efforts underway in Alabama and South Carolina. So, while these Republican redraws while these wins could help stave off those expected losses in November, the president and Republicans are still facing really rough polling numbers.

[00:01:46]The president is underwater on most issues that the matter to voters like cost of living issues. And that bodes well for Democrats with 5 and 1/2 months until until until election day. So the house majority is still very much in play, Liz.

[00:02:01]Now, Tennessee's Republican Governor Finn enacted a new congressional map into law that really carves up a majority black district in Memphis. The GOP saying this is all about politics.

[00:02:12]Democrats are calling this racist. What can those communities that that got divided up do now to try to get better representation? Is there anything that they can do?

[00:02:23]Honestly, their options are limited. And that's that's the hard truth for for you know, for decades when minority voters with voters of color felt the map was drawn to dilute their voice, they could go to to the federal court under the Voting Rights Act. But you know, again, the Supreme Court just weakened that protection last week. So the door is mostly closed. So the NAACP is trying a different approach. They're going to state court. Are you in Tennessee actually broke its own law by redrawing the map in the middle of the decade.

[00:02:52]Typically, those are done at the end of the decade. So for over 50 years, state law said you can't do that. Republicans repealed that that rule in the same special session where they passed that new map, Liz.

[00:03:05]Now, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is on maternity leave and she has some really interesting subs. Marco Rubio held a press conference earlier this week, press briefing I should say. Here's part of that that went viral.

[00:03:19]My hope for America's what it's always been. I think it's the hope I hope we all share. We want it to continue to be the place where anyone from anywhere can achieve anything. Where you're not limited by the circumstances of your birth, by the color of your skin, by your ethnicity. But frankly, it's a place where you are able to overcome challenges and achieve your full potential. I think that should be the goal of every country in the world, frankly. But I think in the US, we're not perfect. Our history is not one of perfection, but it's still better than anybody else's history. And ours is a story of perpetual improvement.

[00:03:47]J.D. Vance, the vice president, also expected to have a turn at the podium.

[00:03:51]I'm curious, Finn, is this an opportunity for these two men to set the stage for what the presidential race potentially is going to look like in a year or so? Was this assignment on purpose?

[00:04:02]Well, you know, there's a rotation as as Karoline Leavitt is out on maternity leave uh from cabinet members and, you know, senior administration officials.

[00:04:11]Uh it you know, again, it's still it's still extremely early. Uh but that Rubio performance uh absolutely accelerates the 2028 chatter, especially in this town, Liz. Uh Rubio, who ran for president in 2016, uh looked like a candidate at the lectern. Uh he was, you know, fluent in Spanish, uh dropping '90s rap lyrics. Uh he was pretty comfortable with reporters in the briefing room uh and and and still on message for Trump. Uh so, uh some people close to Rubio have told me that they hope he considers a run. And and, you know, he has um he he has uh last year as recently as last year, he was asked about uh J.D.

[00:04:51]Vance and if he would run for uh 2028, and he essentially said that he would he would back him. You know, but he that was a year ago, and um you did see this sort of split screen also, Liz. He was at the podium, and you saw Vance in Iowa rallying for House Republicans in tough races. Uh so, um what what you did see was that even though it's in this early stage, you're seeing that uh um these two are becoming these sort of formidable emissaries of the administrations and potential heirs apparent uh to the president and and the MAGA movement. Again, it's still a long ways away um in this early stage. J.D.

[00:05:30]Vance is high in in the polls, of course. Rubio has moved up. Uh there could be more cabinet members jumping in uh by the end of this. There could be all kinds of other candidates. Uh but uh there's been a lot of attention uh in the last few days since that um since that appearance in the briefing room, uh, and and they're having people pushing him internally to consider a a White House run. All right, let's talk about an election that actually is on the horizon. Uh, the California governor's race. There was a debate this week in Southern California. There's another one next week in San Francisco.

[00:06:03]What's standing out to you with these candidates and the race itself?

[00:06:09]Yeah, this is a fun one. I mean, for for political geeks like me, right?

[00:06:13]I look, this this is the This is the stretch where candidates are really starting to make their closing arguments to voters. And remember, as you know very well, California has a jungle primary system. So, the top two finishers advance, uh, to the general election regardless of party. And that changes the the strategy entirely.

[00:06:31]What's, you know, what's standing out to me right now is the urgency of where we are in this race. Mail ballots are already in voters' hands. Uh, there's really no clear, uh, dominant frontrunner. Uh, and you saw that on the debate stage, uh, in in Los Angeles last week. The candidates went after each other very pugilistically, often much harder than we saw in earlier matchups.

[00:06:52]And a lot of that fire was aimed at former HHS Secretary, uh, Xavier Becerra, who's who's surged in the in the top tier since Eric Swalwell dropped out. Um, the dominant issues in California in in some of the ones that we're seeing across the country. Uh, affordability, uh, housing prices, uh, gas prices, cost of living issues. And so, there was more of that than some of the the ideological fights you have seen in previous, you know, California debates or matchups. Yes, you said there's another big debate coming up in San Francisco. Uh, at CBS's own San Francisco, uh, so that would absolutely be the the probably the best one. But, there's growing pressure, uh, also on those lower-polling candidates, uh, to create a moment that can really shake up the race before voting, uh, before election day gets closer, Liz. And Governor Gavin Newsom still hasn't endorsed anyone. Is he waiting for the top candidate to emerge before he puts his weight behind a person?

[00:07:52]Oh my god, that's been the million-dollar question since the beginning of this, you know. If he had endorsed, a lot of Democrats in California said they would have cleared the field. It wouldn't be this tight.

[00:08:01]You know, you wouldn't see this sort of carousel of who's leading in the race.

[00:08:07]Their expectation is that he likely will not.

[00:08:11]But I think things can change. We'll see what happens.

[00:08:15]Right now, it's been pretty much a dog fight there in California. And you know, really if if if someone were to predict and tell you today this person is going to be the winner, they can't really say that cuz it has been this this fluidity in this race from the from the beginning.

[00:08:30]But for me, again, it's something I'm going to be eating my popcorn with on election day cuz it's one of the most is one of the biggest races of the year. Yeah, these debates have become must-see TV every single week to see who's going to go after who.

[00:08:43]It's really interesting to watch. Ben Gomez, thanks so much. Always great to talk to you.