5/11/2026

Although I no longer follow US current affairs after Trump's re-election, the recent midterm elections still brought some surprise and shock to me. One of these shocking developments was the Republican Party's loss of Texas, its long-standing political stronghold.

Texas has repeatedly contributed crucial electoral votes to Republican presidential candidates, and its governor and senators have long been Republicans. Now, Trump's popularity has been hampered by the Iran war, and the war has also led to a surge in oil prices and other livelihood issues, resulting in more voters ultimately deciding to vote for the Democratic than those who insist on returning to the Republican.

This upheaval felt to me like the loss of Johor by the Barisan Nasional coalition in the 2018 Malaysian General Election— not only earth-shattering but also a devastating defeat for the ruling party at the time. Reflecting on this event, I am still amazed that such a complete collapse of a ruling party's strongest political stronghold could not occur without a serious popularity crisis of the government and livelihood among people.

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雖然我在川普再次出任美國總統後不再關注美國時事課題，但近日的中期選舉中還有令我震驚不已。其中就是美國共和黨丟失了長久以來最堅固的政治堡壘德克薩斯州 (Texas)。

這個州屬多次貢獻了舉足輕重的選舉人票給共和黨總統候選人，其州長和參議員也長期由共和黨人當選和出任。如今川普的名望受伊朗戰爭拖累，並因戰爭而影響石油價飆升等一系列民生生計問題，使最終決定投選民主黨的選民，比堅持投回共和黨的選民更多了。

這個變局對我而言仿佛馬來西亞在2018年的509全國大選國民陣綫丟失柔佛州一樣，不但驚天動地，而且是個對執政者當局殺傷力非常強的敗局。再次回想這個變局時，依然為此驚嘆能全面絆倒執政者心目中最堅固的政治堡壘，沒有嚴重的執政者民望和民生生計危機，實屬不易。

5/11/2026

8.25pm