Episode 965: The Winston Group on the 2026 Midterm Elections
Newt's World
Gingrich 360
4.6 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 11 April 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
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Summary
Newt talks with David Winston and Myra Miller of the Winston Group, about the 2026 midterm elections. Inflation and the economy remain the central issue for voters. They discuss how war-driven spikes in gas prices may be seen as temporary, potentially buying the Trump administration time if voters expect prices to fall once the Iran conflict and Strait of Hormuz tensions ease. Turning to party dynamics, they describe the growing importance of independents, whose share of the electorate rose from 27% in 2020 to 34% in 2024 and now exceeds at least one major party in many competitive states. Historical swings show how dramatically independents can shift outcomes. David and Myra argue that independents are becoming an “existential threat” to both parties and that their voting is driven primarily by economic concerns, especially cost of living. Looking ahead to 2026, they recommend that every Republican campaign adopt two core strategies: a clear economic message that educates voters on the benefits of the “Big Beautiful Bill” and a specific plan to win independents, recognizing that an effective independent strategy is inseparable from a strong economic strategy.
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.5 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:08.1 | Welcome to Newtsworld Podcasts on the I-Heart Podcast Network. |
| 0:13.1 | A lot of things going on, but the one that's obviously dominant is the whole question of whether or not there's really a truce. |
| 0:22.5 | If there is really a truce, |
| 0:31.1 | who won and who lost, I have to confess. I'm very hesitant to suggest that I know anything. I believe in President Reagan's rule that you should trust but verify. And so I want to see some verification |
| 0:39.5 | here. I think that it's not clear at all to me. First of all, that we're going to be able to use |
| 0:46.9 | the strait of Hormuz without the Iranians controlling it and charging a lot of money. Second, |
| 0:56.2 | it's not at all clear to me that we're going to get the nuclear material out of Iran. Third, it's not at all clear to me that the Iranians are |
| 1:03.9 | going to agree to limit or give up their ballistic missile program. And if you start with those three, |
| 1:10.7 | I think it's pretty hard to |
| 1:12.3 | argue that we're winning. I mean, if we end up with an Iranian revolutionary dictatorship, |
| 1:18.0 | which has for 47 years chanted death to America, and they end up keeping their nuclear material, |
| 1:25.1 | increasing their control, because remember they never had control |
| 1:28.7 | the Strait of Hermos before, was always considered an international waterway. |
| 1:33.4 | If they end up continuing to develop missiles, and there are some reports that at least |
| 1:39.0 | four ships have arrived from China with the chemical precursors needed to make solid fuel rockets. So you have to expect |
| 1:47.3 | that Russia, China, and North Korea will all be helping Iran rebuild. And there's no evidence so |
| 1:54.3 | far that the Iranian dictatorship thinks that it has lost anything. At least their public |
| 2:00.4 | statements are very clearly, indicating that |
| 2:04.1 | they think they won this fight and that they're going to continue to be who they are, which fits in |
| 2:09.1 | with a comment yesterday by one of the leaders of Hamas who said that there will be no long-term truce in |
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