November 6, 2026
By Vicki Kline
The Podcast VERDICT with Ted Cruz just highlighted why Kansas went Blue! (1)
I enjoy the steady rhythm of Ted Cruz’s voice when he lays out an argument backed by data. Someone sent me his 11/4/2026 Verdict podcast, and early in the episode he offered an explanation for why Kansas and Texas turned blue.
Say what? Texas and Kansas are now Blue? According to some yes!
Ted explains what the exit polls reveal about what’s driving Kansas, and I found it fascinating. However, I have a few questions of my own about margins that showed up extremely close in Michigan (purple state) Maine, New Hampshire (purple state) Ohio, Texas, (lost all the statewide elections) Alaska, and Iowa. Seems odd to me. Yet, what does the Republican Texas Senator have to say about the 2026, midterm election?
“It was not a blue wave, it was a Tsunami, an ass-kicking. A Watergate repudiation.” Ted colorfully expresses. “The problem was not turnout. We lost the House and Senate.”
He opens with this antithesis statement, “history was made last night. For months we were saying for 2026 was the most consequential midterm election of our lifetimes. Unfortunately, we were right. Sometimes history is to be celebrated, other times it is to be mourned. Always it must be reckoned with.”
I agree with Senator Cruz that serious reflection is necessary after an election like this.
And to make a note for Republicans while articles are posted with great irritation and observation. I believe, one of the strengths of the Republican Party has traditionally been its willingness to examine what went wrong, reassess priorities, and make strategic adjustments.
Since Free State News is about letting the voice of the people come forward as much as possible, a key reflection noted the difference between the parties with this meme.
P.S. Kansas has not elected a Democratic Senator since 1932. This is probably what has prompted sarcastic responses.
“So, are we Republicans supposed to riot tomorrow? I’m new at this. Who’s bringing the rocks and bricks? Where are we looting? Are we burning cars or just busting windows? I think we need lists. And an organizer. What about snacks? I can bring a cheese tray. What’s the dress code? Business casual or dressy western? I have so many questions?”
Exit Polls – Number one issue for Kansas.
- Cost of living, especially with energy and groceries 36%
- Corruption 18.5%
- The cost of the Iran war 10.1%
- The candidates are terrible 7.9%
- The Canada trade war 7.6%
- The GOP did not do enough to support Trump 6.6%
- Republicans did not pass the SAVE AMERICA ACT 5.6%
- Trump’s focus on monuments 5.5%
- Data Centers and AI 3.8%
What struck me most about these results was that many of the top concerns were economic rather than ideological. Voters appeared less focused on partisan victories and more focused on daily financial pressures.
Ted argued that Republicans became too focused on macroeconomic indicators while many Americans were experiencing a very different reality in their daily lives. Senator Cruz cited several examples of how the GOP responded to these issues to show the disconnect. For example, the stock market was soaring, the jobs market had increased and poverty numbers were down.
Ted then tells some stats for Americans.
- Hormel’s Spam, meat substitute (yes, the meat in the can) had record sales of 113 million cans for 2025. That is almost the same number of Hormel Spam sold during the entirety of World War II.
- 29% of Americans have used buy now pay later for groceries for 2026. That is double the share two years ago.
- In August,2026 banks repossessed 42% more homes than they did last year.
- In 2024, car repossessions topped 2.3 million. Above the 2009 peak of the financial crisis.
- In 2025, 6% of 40lk holders took hardship withdraws, paying penalties. That is a record and triples the norm.
- Last and most stunning. Americans made more than 75 million paid plasma donations (blood donors) in 2026. That means 200,000 Americans, every single day with a needle in their arm, just to pay for groceries.
“And Republican politicians seemed like they did not understand or did not care. The food is too high, the gas is too high, diesel is too high, insurance is too high, LIFE is too high.” Ted continues, “In 2025 we witnessed the world first Trillionaire – Elon Musk. We saw this wealth while millions struggled to feed their families. Data centers being built were turning billionaires into centibillionaires. While over the past five years the average person’s utilities went up 30%.”
Ted explains that Republicans did not realize that people were angry and no one was addressing people’s real pain.
Thank you, Senator Cruz, for thoughtfully explaining that you saw all of this coming. And an extra thank you for using your podcast to clarify that the huge Texas blue wave is, somehow, the one thing that definitely isn’t your fault.
However, could we not just think differently as this meme points out.
NEVERTHELESS, I have some questions. Along with many, many others.
Margins: Maine – Troy Jackson (D) 52-53% over Susan Collins (R)44-46%. Michigan- Abdul El-Sayed (D) 52-54% over Mike Rogers (R) 45-46%. New Hampshire- Chris Pappas (D) 52-56% over John Sununu (R) 42-44%. Kansas- Adam Hamilton (D) 51-52% over Roger Marshall (R) 45-46%. Ohio- Sherrod Brown (D) 51% over Jon Husted (R) 44-45%. Texas- James Talarico (D) 51-55% over Ken Paxton (R) 43%-45%. Alaska- Mary Peltola (D) 50% over Dan Sullivan (R) 45-48% (They have rank choice voting). Iowa – Josh Turke (D) 50-51% over Ashley Hinson (R) 46%. Mind you third party votes can make the splits look tighter.
This seems like a pattern? Yes or no?
Michigan is in the narrow margin of wanting to lean socialist? If the exit polls are showing economic issues as priority for Kansas and perhaps for other states, then why did the national and local articles focus on social issues and character assassination that supposedly turned people’s minds and hearts?
Let us take Texas, were the majority of Republicans not wanting to get things passed in their legislature? Note this letter stating, “numerous requests for special sessions to pass countless conservative policy priorities have been ignored by your office.”
Thanks Governor Abbott looks like “emergency powers laws” are one of the nails to the Texas election coffin.
If we are pointing fingers at Republican leadership let’s be as specific as possible.
Senator Cruz you also noted in your Verdict podcast that the Republicans DID come out.
NOT according to this chart.
And let us look at Jovan Hutton Pulitzer who worked on the Arizona Audit. Could pre-loading the Voter Roll System be a problem? Or is it that President Trump was too focused on monuments that had everyone wanting to turn the country into a socialist cesspool?
And let’s be clear about Communism and Islam? I learned early in college when I studied historical religion that Islam is not pro-Communism.
Answer
22 August, 2020
Short Answer:
- The first problem we as Muslims come across in communism is the crass materialism on which it is founded. The communists reject God, the human soul, and the life hereafter. They ridicule the human need for Divine guidance and consider religion “the opium of the people”.
- The Islamic position on communism does not in any way mean that Islam does not give any importance to the economic factor in human life. Certainly Islam acknowledges and understands the importance of a good economic basis for any improvement in the social life of a community. But it firmly rejects the idea that man is simply “an economic animal”, which is the basis not only of Communism, but also of Capitalism.
I would like Jovan to come help Kansas with their audit. And so do others as one example below shows.
And just adding a few voices of the public into this piece. I am making some popcorn and watching the show to see how long the Powers that be, will peddle that Texas and all their counties voted majority blue. And, that Kansas in all her counties moved blue by 20% and has been since 2024. When it’s been the opposite in other places.
Lara Logan who Liberty Lions League brought to host our Election Integrity education seminar a few years back made this comment on Texas.
And what about Florida?
Oh, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s people have figured it out. Doesn’t Cuban blood run through your veins as well Senator Cruz?
Finally, let us look at some experts like Peter Bernegger –
I’ll close with a few observations from professionals like Peter Bernegger and others. I enjoy your voice, Ted Cruz. I just hope the last two years weren’t a long-term trust-building exercise where we were slowly conditioned to think, “Well, Ted sounds reasonable, so this must be true.” Just a thought.
And perhaps that’s the larger question for all of us. Over the years, how much of what we’ve accepted was based on evidence, and how much was shaped by repetition? Were we encouraged to question power wherever it existed, or only certain people and certain narratives? If institutions can spend years persuading Americans to view one man as the central threat to democracy, should we not apply that same skepticism to the institutions themselves?
Whether you believe the real battle is against a bureaucratic Deep State, global financial interests, entrenched political networks, or simply the concentration of power in unelected hands, the principle remains the same: question everything. The most successful narratives are rarely the ones forced upon us. They are the ones we slowly learn to repeat ourselves.
So before accepting the next crisis, the next villain, or the next “obvious truth,” perhaps we should ask a simple question: Who benefits if I believe this, and what evidence would convince me otherwise?
- tps://www.youtube.com/@verdictwithtedcruz