and the party of the current prez historically tends to lose seats anyway.

but it might not be as bad as some think.

beltway media makes any dem loss or underperformance a bellwether for future elections...but oddly doesnt provide much coverage for dems flipping a long time repub nh state assembly seat or the dem landslide victory for the wi superintendent office (races they previously said would portend dem midterm troubles).

im sure when newsom wins this race in a blowout close to his record margin from 2018...even with a less young/diverse electorate due to it being a snap off-year election...the media will still go on about what trouble it spells for newsom and democrats across the entire country.