Trump and his inner circle enter a new phase of rivalry with neoconservative elites: a struggle between pragmatic and values-driven approaches

Throughout the fall of 2025, a series of local and special elections across several states demonstrated that the Republican Party’s electoral momentum had begun to erode.

Democratic candidates won special elections to the House of Representatives in Tennessee, Texas, and New Jersey, as well as a number of local races in New York, where Republicans lost ground in legislative bodies and key municipal councils.

These outcomes were widely interpreted as a signal of shifting political attitudes within major urban agglomerations.