James Blair, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, said Wednesday that Virginia passing a redistricting referendum is not a concern for Republicans as the midterm elections approach.
Speaking with CNN’s Dana Bash, Blair said the GOP still retains the ability to come out on top in the midterm elections despite potentially losing seats in Virginia because Republicans in Washington have an advantage on policies at the forefront of voters’ minds.
“Crime, border security, illegal immigration, the main issues that people are voting for, Republicans still maintain the edge,” Blair said.
Blair crunched the numbers and explained that Virginia elected Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) by 15 percentage points in November 2025, but narrowly passed the referendum by just 3 percentage points.
“That’s actually a three-point overperformance of the Trump 2024 historic performance in Virginia,” Blair said. “So, just as a baseline for all the Democrats crowing this morning, if Republicans perform anywhere near, on average, the way they did in Virginia last night, we not only add seats to the Senate, but we add seats to the House, and we have a historic midterm.”
Democrat Kamala Harris won 51.82% of Virginia’s vote in the 2024 presidential election, compared to Trump’s 46.06%.
Blair dismissed the idea that the referendum signals an uphill battle for Republicans in the midterm elections, saying the GOP also has greater trust among voters.
“The midterms are going to be more about who do you trust more to deal with these issues that they care about,” Blair said.
Bash pressed Blair on why the GOP is framing the midterm elections as a choice between Democrats and Republicans, rather than a referendum on the president. The CNN anchor said she has been around several administrations and has seen the right-versus-left tactic fail, and asked why Blair thinks it will work this time around.
“It’s not about making it a referendum on the president or not,” Blair said. “It comes down to the policies that President Trump and the Republicans have put in place. Every Republican in the House, short of Thomas Massie, voted for the biggest working families tax cut in history.”
VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING BALLOT MEASURE COULD STILL BE STRUCK DOWN AFTER VOTING, EXPERTS SAY
Blair also dismissed the idea that families aren’t seeing the cost-of-living burdens lifted.
Trump tapped Blair to lead his political operations ahead of the midterms, in which the Republicans are looking to keep control of the House, where they hold a narrow majority. Blair previously served as one of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles’s deputies.
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