Republicans hitched their wagon to a single leader. And they lost in the midterms. Bigly.
In what turned out to be a historic and unprecedented midterm election, Democrats came out with some major victories. States turned blue that have been led by Republicans for decades, like Kansas, South Carolina, and Texas. And even states that voted President Donald Trump into office just two years ago swung left.
Democrats, who will take control of the next Congress, are celebrating, as what was expected to be a blue wave turned out to be a blue tsunami.
Meanwhile, Republicans are struggling to wrap their heads around their new reality, as it seems clear that change is coming. And it could serve as a lesson for what happens when an organization puts all its eggs in one leader’s basket.
What Republicans are saying
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the blue wave an “extinction-level event” for Republicans. Ted Cruz said the election was “a Watergate-level repudiation.” And conservative podcaster Clay Travis declared that the era of Trump is “over.”
And while Trump was quick to say Republicans lost because he himself “wasn’t on the ballot” and that Americans didn’t like the candidates, the president had endorsed many of Tuesday night’s biggest losers, who had closely aligned themselves with his policies.
To name a few, Ken Paxton lost the Texas Senate seat to Democrat James Talarico, Michigan Republican Mike Rogers lost to Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, and South Carolina Republican Darline Graham—who was handpicked by the president—lost to her Democratic challenger Annie Andrews.
Clearly, Americans were tired of Trump’s America. But if anything can be learned from Tuesday’s historic election from a leadership perspective, it’s perhaps that when you’re vying for a job, blindly following any one leader—especially a massively unpopular one—might not be the smartest bet.
Why blind loyalty to one leader is a hard sell
Blind loyalty is problematic for a few reasons. Keynote speaker and Thirty Minute Mentors podcast host Adam Mendler, who’s interviewed more than 500 of America’s top leaders, tells Fast Company that even good leaders need to be challenged.
“The most dangerous room for a leader is one where everyone agrees. At some point, you have to ask whether people are following your vision, or simply afraid to challenge it,” he says.
Mendler adds that hitching your candidacy to a single leader isn’t just bad politics. It’s a bad look for anyone striving for authority who wants to be respected as an independent individual—be it in public service, business, or any other situation where people rally behind one person. And just because a leader is popular doesn’t necessarily mean teams should blindly go all in.
“What happens when that popularity disappears?” Mendler asks.
Natalee Gibson, cofounder and CEO of Songue PR, who has trained leaders and corporate executives for 25 years, agrees. She tells Fast Company that she sees that same mistake being made frequently in organizations, where workers confuse “proximity to power” with “having power themselves.” Many Republicans, she notes, seemed to make that same calculation with Trump.
Instead, she says what actually characterizes strong leaders is the ability to exercise their own judgment. “A leader is someone who can speak truth to power, no matter how uncomfortable. It is someone who can challenge decisions, ask hard questions, and recognize when something isn’t working and call it out,” she says.
How to actually showcase leadership skills
That philosophy might explain why those who set themselves apart from Trump, including some of his harshest critics, ended up being the ones who walked away victorious on Tuesday.
Because while some candidates toed the line, others didn’t mince words about their disdain for Trump’s policies—which perhaps partly accounted for why some states that have been historically pro-Trump in past elections so dramatically swung the other way.
The person who maybe did so the best was Abdul El-Sayed, who said during a recent interview on comedian Hasan Minhaj’s podcast that Americans “are being actively bullied by the dumbest people in the room.” He also called Trump an “idiot” and criticized JD Vance for blindly following Trump, saying that his idea of leadership is to “suck up to the strongest person in the room.”
In El-Sayed’s relentless critiques, not to mention his starkly different ideas about the direction the country should go, he set himself apart in a state that voted for Trump in the 2024 election. Not only was he a vocal Trump critic, but he also relied on his own vision—not anyone else’s. From talking about getting money out of politics and healthcare, and cutting funds for Israel, he showcased his confidence, his judgment, and his ability to lead. All of that may have played a role in his victory.
Tuesday night proved that leaders need to rely on their own abilities, views, and uniqueness—and not just placate whoever’s above them on the org chart.