The US midterm elections resulted in significant Democratic gains and a series of major defeats for candidates endorsed by Donald Trump, prompting political analysts to declare an end to his era as a Republican kingmaker and marking the beginning of his lame-duck period.

The US midterm elections resulted in significant Democratic gains and a series of major defeats for candidates endorsed by Donald Trump, prompting political analysts to declare an end to his era as a Republican kingmaker and marking the beginning of his lame-duck period.

The US midterm elections resulted in significant Democratic gains and a series of major defeats for candidates endorsed by Donald Trump, prompting political analysts to declare an end to his era as a Republican kingmaker and marking the beginning of his lame-duck period.

The US midterm elections, which saw Democrats make significant gains, not only delivered a stinging rebuke to the Republicans but also ended President Donald Trump’s role as a political kingmaker where he could endorse and lead candidates to victory.

Democrats regained control of the House and the Senate. At the same time, Trump-endorsed candidates faced a rout, with political analysts predicting the end of the Trump era, with the midterms serving as a “huge disaster" for the President.

Trump endorsed 22 gubernatorial candidates, including Indian-origin Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio. Of the 22, 10 won, 11 lost, and Alaska is yet to be decided. The state uses ranked-choice voting and, as per the latest reports, Democrat Jonathan S. Kreiss-Tomkins is leading here. Of the 11 loses, five were flipped by Democrats in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas.

In the Senate, Trump endorsed 24 Senate candidates, of which 13 won, nine lost, and two results remain undecided in Alaska and Mississippi. The losses included six seats where Democrats won GOP seats in Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas.

Some of the GOP Senate candidates were handpicked by Trump himself. They include Ken Paxton in Texas, Michael Whatley in North Carolina, Mike Collins in Georgia, and Darline Graham in South Carolina. Voters rejected all of them.

Several House candidates also suffered defeats at the ballot box. Of the 234 candidates endorsed by Trump, 48 lost and Democrats flipped at least 25 GOP seats where he endorsed their opponents.

The mandate was clear, as Trump himself had exhorted voters to pretend that he was on the ballot. However, on Tuesday after the drubbings, Trump changed stance: “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” he said on Truth Social.

Trump had aggressively campaigned for his candidates, holding dozens of rallies across the country during the final month of the campaign. He had been boasting that his promotion would boost turnout.

Political analysts believe the Trump spell has been broken. According to former political journalist and analyst Terry Moran, the Democratic rout of Trump-endorsed candidates in the House and Senate proves Trump’s days as a GOP kingmaker are not just limited, but possibly outright dead.  “Everybody else who wants a future in Republican politics and electoral politics is going to have to carve out their own identity,” Moran told The Daily Beast, pointing out how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were quick to separate himself from the Trump administration and Republicans in Washington after Tuesday’s massacre.

Veteran Republican strategist John Feehery called the results a "huge disaster" for Trump. "He needs to clean house," Feehery was quoted by Reuters. "Every day from this point forward, he's becoming more and more lame.”

Alex Keena, associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, called it “one of the biggest blowouts in modern history. “This marks the beginning of the end for Trump as a kingmaker in the Republican Party, and it signals the beginning of his lame duck era,” he said.

According to reports, the Republicans were already gearing up for a rout after internal polling revealed at least six weeks before the election that Republicans were headed for losses in both chambers. Though Trump himself was aware of this, he refused to change course on Iran, which is cited as the major reason for GOP drubbing.

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