Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich predicted on Sunday that Republicans will see a “red wave” in the midterm elections this fall, claiming the party’s chances of holding onto its congressional majority has improved substantially in recent weeks.
“I actually believe we are closer to a ‘red wave’ than a ‘blue wave,'” Gingrich told Fox News, admitting he was nervous for GOP lawmakers earlier this year.
“But starting with passing the tax cuts, with what President Trump has done consistently on conservative judges, on deregulation, on trade negotiations, what he’s done with North Korea, I think people now have a sense that we’re moving in the right direction,” he said.
Gingrich’s prediction comes on the heels of several polls that have shown Republicans’ generic ballot average improving, in some cases to where the party is polling ahead of Democrats.
A Reuters poll released late last month found the GOP holding a 1-percentage point lead over congressional Democrats in a generic ballot among registered U.S. voters. Another 15 percent of voters surveyed indicated they were unsure which party’s candidate they would choose in the November midterms.
“We’re likely to end up being somewhere between plus-2 and plus-6 in the Senate. How can you talk about a ‘blue wave’ if we’re gaining votes?” Gingrich said on Sunday, suggesting Republicans will add between two and six seats to their current Senate majority.
Gingrich was serving as speaker of the House in 1998 when Democrats avoided a beating in the midterm elections, which have traditionally proven to be devastating for the party that controls the White House.
