[Anchor]

The Republican Party has handed over even its traditional stronghold, which it had maintained for nearly a century, to the Democratic Party.

Candidates personally backed by President Trump have suffered consecutive defeats. Reporter Kim Hye-young looks into the background of these results.

[Reporter]

In the Republican stronghold of Texas, a Democratic U.S. senator has been elected for the first time in 38 years.

Thirty-seven-year-old candidate James Talarico defeated the Republican candidate who received full support from President Trump.

Although the Republicans poured approximately 300 million dollars into the race and even Elon Musk provided massive financial backing, they failed to turn the tide.

[James Talarico / U.S. Senator-elect for Texas : We just took Texas back. We proved that all the money in the world is useless in front of the people of Texas.]

In Ohio, a Democratic candidate defeated a Republican incumbent senator, and in Kansas, a Democratic senator was elected for the first time in a staggering 94 years.

[Adam Hamilton / U.S. Senator-elect for Kansas : I think Kansans, whether they are Republicans, Independents, or Democrats, are saying that what is happening in Washington right now is wrong.]

As upsets continued in traditional Republican-leaning regions, the Democratic Party swept 6 out of 7 battleground states that had been designated as key arenas.

Analysts point out that the decisive factors behind the consecutive crushing defeats for the Republicans were, above all, the prolonged Iran war and high inflation.

As gasoline and daily necessities prices surged and the burden of living expenses exploded, even supporters who voted for Trump in the presidential election two years ago turned their backs in large numbers.

[U.S. Voter in Georgia : I am worried about my children's future, the economic situation, and the job market.]

[U.S. Voter in Maine : I don't like the way things are going in our country right now. Both the economy and the war issues.]

Frustrations also erupted that Trump was undermining the traditional values of American democracy through excessive immigration crackdowns and press suppression that continued during his second term in office.

[Mason Richey / Professor, Graduate School of International and Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies : Even people who voted for President Trump have grown sick and tired of the misgovernance. A significant number of Republican candidates took positions that were very unpopular with the public.]

President Trump, tripped up by war and inflation, faces a shaken political standing as even the Republican party's strongholds collapse.

(Video Editing: Kim Ho-jin, Design: Seo Hyun-jung, Kang Yoon-jung, Park Chun-woong)