GOP lawmakers say party isn’t trying to learn from midterm losses

A group of GOP lawmakers is voicing concerns that the Republican Party isn’t confronting its losses in the November midterms and is not taking steps to learn from what led to Democrats flipping at least 40 seats in the House.

“[There has not been] any party lookback or leadership lookback and it does worry some of us,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) told The New York Times in a report published Sunday. 

{mosads}Kinzinger’s comments have been echoed by other GOP lawmakers, including Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.).

Stefanik said that “there has been close to no introspection in the GOP conference and really no coming to grips with the shifting demographics that get to why we lost those seats.”

“I’m very frustrated and I know other members are frustrated,” she said, adding that she’s planning to alter her political action committee in an effort to help women win GOP primaries in 2020. 

Seizing on opposition to President Trump, Democrats surged to the majority in the House during this year’s midterms, flipping at least 40 seats in the lower chamber. 

“It’s clear to me why we lost 40 seats; it was a referendum on the president, but that’s an extremely difficult proclamation for people to make because if they were to say that they’d get the wrath of the president,” outgoing Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.), a frequent Trump critic who announced his retirement earlier this year, told the Times. 

The Democratic Party gained its most seats in the House since 1974 in the election, according to the Times.

The losses have concerned some about the leadership of the party. House officials indicated to the newspaper that they would try to put together an after-action report related to the midterms. 

However, it is unclear how comprehensive the report would be. In addition, many leaders in of the Republican Party have declined to open up about the party’s losses in the House and why their races may have played out the way they did.

The Times notes that Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) said he did not want to play the “blame game” when asked about certain suburban incumbents losing races. 

Since the midterms, Republicans have chosen Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) to serve as the minority leader when the Democrats seize control next month. Lawmakers also selected Steve Scalise (R-La.) to serve as minority whip.