(NewsNation) — After an election, people tend to focus on the candidates who won their races. But what about those who lost the 2022 midterms this year?
For some, their political future remains to be seen.
Two candidates who have gotten national attention on the Democratic side are Stacey Abrams and Beto O’Rourke.
Abrams, a lawyer and former Georgia state representative, fell short in her attempt to beat incumbent Brian Kemp (R) and become governor. She’s gotten a lot of credit nationally for energizing the Democratic base and registering people to vote in the state.
In her concession speech, Abrams said she “won’t stop running for a better Georgia.”
Meanwhile, Beto O’Rourke, who has previously served as the U.S. representative for Texas’ 16th congressional district, lost his bid for the governorship to Republican incumbent Greg Abbott. He’s now run for president, senator and governor of Texas — and lost all three times. However, O’Rourke has managed to raise more money than Abbott several times throughout this campaign cycle.
“I don’t know what my role or yours will be going forward, but I’m in this fight for life,” O’Rourke said during his concession speech, per the Texas Tribune. “Who knows what’s next for any of us, right? But I just cannot thank you enough.”
On the Republican side, television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz lost to current Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in the Pennsylvania Senate race, despite his backing from former President Donald Trump. A Republican strategist who spoke to NewsNation, Mark Williams of Ferox Strategies, says he doesn’t see Oz getting back into politics.
Oz himself wrote in a statement that the U.S. is facing big problems and that everyone needs to “focus on getting the job done.
“With bold leadership that brings people together, we can create real change,” he said, according to The Hill.
When it comes to the candidates who lost despite Trump’s endorsement, Williams said it’s too early to write them off right now. He still sees a path forward for them, especially as the candidates remain so popular among Trump’s base.
“That’s what you are going to see with these folks who were kind of thrust into the limelight in the past two months,” Williams said. “I think they’ll take a step back, re-evaluate what their next steps will be, but we’ll see them emerge in some way.”