Republicans were given a nationwide mandate. Now let’s get to work.

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Over the last 70 days, Americans have heard this word repeated over and over again: mandate. Following Donald Trump and JD Vance’s decisive victory that secured their control of the White House and Republicans further entrenching their majorities in the House and the Senate, leaders from the Grand Old Party are uniting under one clear message: The American people have given them a mandate with their victories. It’s an idea we heard a lot about, too, on Inauguration Day.

Many along party lines will debate whether such a mandate was handed down in November, but its existence is a reality that cannot be denied. What happened on Election Day was no accident. And contrary to partisan beliefs, this was not a mandate handed down by the old guard, but rather a collective majority of Americans from all walks of life.

In the run-up to Election Day, we saw the stories about the Harris/Walz campaign canceling ads in Wisconsin to try and shore up the vote in Philadelphia, where rumors of blue-collar workers and Black men shifting toward Trump grew by the day. We saw the early exit polls of Trump doubling his support among Black voters in Wisconsin, but the shifts don’t end there.

While Trump remained pretty even in his support among men, Vice President Kamala Harris saw her support among women decrease by one to four points compared to Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, respectively. The biggest shift came as it pertained to race and age. While Harris managed to win over Black men and women by a significant margin nationally, that margin shrank considerably since Clinton lost in 2016. The number of Black men voting for Trump increased from just 13% in 2016 to 21% in 2024, according to CNN exit polls. And while Clinton earned 94% of Black women’s vote in exit polls, Biden and Harris lost significant ground to the tune of four and five points, respectively.

Democrats also lost ground with Latinos and young voters. Trump won the support of Latino men by 10 points, compared with Clinton’s 31-point victory among this group just eight years prior. As for Latina women, Harris and the Democrats cut their lead by more than half. Similarly, Republicans also cut Democrats’ popularity with younger voters by half, with Harris having only an 11% margin among 18- to 29-year-olds, a significant downswing from the 24- and 19-point victories Biden and Clinton earned, respectively among that demographic.

Even Minnesota, a haven for Democratic presidential candidates that not even Ronald Reagan’s 49-state victory could crack, was not immune from the voter swing — even with a buffalo-plaid-wearing Gov. Tim Walz on the ticket. Trump managed to increase his popular vote share in 84 of the state’s 87 counties and flipped four more counties — Blue Earth County, Carlton County, Nicollet County and Winona County — from blue to red. Harris also lost support among Somali Americans, with reports indicating a 14-, 12- and 9-point drop in the Cedar-Riverside, W. Lake Street and Seward neighborhood precincts. This is unsurprising considering the number of Somali leaders who attended Trump’s rally in St. Cloud and endorsed him at the State Capitol before Election Day.

Altogether, most Republican candidates benefited from the down-ballot effect primarily because of the stark contrast in their message strategy. Republicans focused much of their campaigns on bread-and-butter issues that voters were concerned about — crime, economy, housing and immigration. Unfortunately, Harris, Walz and the Democrats were so busy covering for past mistakes and missteps that they missed the moment to address kitchen table issues. From lying about Biden’s ability to be president to refusing to address the Biden/Harris administration’s policy decisions that led to issues affecting Americans, Democrats failed to connect authentically with voters.

While a mandate was handed down, a great responsibility comes with it. Republicans in Minnesota and Washington have two years to make progress in their campaign promises while stating their case for two more. For Republicans, that feat becomes more difficult since the party in power typically experiences loss during the first midterm after taking control. It’s time to rise to the challenge because our track record of doing so isn’t that great — whether it’s political games in Washington, firing the speaker at random points in time, or in Minnesota, where poor candidate selection, constant infighting and my-way-or-the-highway attitudes have resulted in missed opportunities to competitively compete against Democrats.

A mandate was indeed handed down to Republicans on Nov. 5 — not just by the typical party faithful, but by Democrats, Republicans and independents who were desperate for change and a way back to the American dream we’ve all heard so much about. Let’s not squander the opportunity in front of us like in previous years. Republicans, it’s time we put adults in charge and get to work because 2026 isn’t as far off as we think.

Preya Samsundar is a GOP communications consultant with K2 & Company. She has worked for Nikki Haley’s presidential super-PAC, the Republican National Committee, President Donald Trump and other Republican candidates around the country. She lives in Burnsville.