Donald Trump told Republican senators Wednesday morning that the government shutdown, now setting a record for length, was a “big factor” in the pummeling that the party took in the off-year elections the night before.

Almost everywhere where elections were held Tuesday, voters moved toward Democrats, even at surprising margins. Polls had showed a tight governor’s race in New Jersey, where Trump had pinned his hopes of Jack Ciattarelli to deliver in blow in a blue state, but in the end the race wasn’t even close, with Democrat Mikee Sherrill likely to win by a double-digit percentage.

To the senators, Trump tried to take solace that he wasn’t on the ballot as a factor in diminished GOP enthusiasm, but in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom presented Proposition 50 as akin to an up

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