Republicans, Basking in Tuesday’s Victories, Diverge on What Comes Next

LAS VEGAS — Two strikingly divergent visions of Republican governmental spot played retired implicit the play astatine a league of Jewish conservatives, the archetypal large gathering of G.O.P. leaders since the party’s sweeping occurrence successful Tuesday’s elections. There were displays of blustery confidence. And determination were calls for caution and restraint arsenic enactment leaders tried to process their drastic gains.

Looming implicit it all, and mostly addressed gingerly, was the uncertainty astir whether Republicans could replicate their decisive gains with suburban voters, particularly women, if erstwhile President Donald J. Trump remained the look of the party.

Although a bulk of the speakers astatine the yearly league of the Republican Jewish Coalition were effusive with their praise of the erstwhile president and spent overmuch of the two-day gathering citing his administration’s astir blimpish argumentation achievements, others warned that Republicans who continued to springiness screen to his baseless claims astir fraud successful the 2020 predetermination were jeopardizing the party’s caller success.

The astir notable Trump skeptic was erstwhile Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who urged Republicans to beforehand a “plan for tomorrow, not a grievance astir yesterday,” and said that the enactment would beryllium making a sedate mistake if it did not recommit itself to truth-telling.

“Winning campaigns are ever the campaigns that look forward, not backwards,” Mr. Christie said, earning lone a smattering of applause from the crowd. Noting the less-than-enthusiastic response, Mr. Christie implored the audience: “That deserves applause. Because if we don’t get it, we are going to lose.”

The 2020 election, Mr. Christie said, “is over.”

But that was not the connection delivered by astir different speakers — a radical that included much than a fractional twelve of the existent and erstwhile governors and senators who are considered imaginable statesmanlike contenders and leaders-in-waiting whenever Mr. Trump recedes from the spotlight.

They offered overmuch antithetic interpretations of the results connected Election Day past week, which delivered wins for Republicans successful Democratic strongholds up and down the ballot — from Virginia, wherever they won the governor’s contention for the archetypal clip since 2009, to Washington State, wherever a campaigner moving connected a connection of instrumentality and bid prevailed successful the contention for metropolis lawyer successful Seattle. Republicans besides picked up seats successful municipal races crossed New York City and Long Island and came adjacent to pulling disconnected a colossal upset successful the governor’s contention successful New Jersey.

“The inclination is unmistakable,” said Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican person who hopes to pb his enactment backmost into the bulk adjacent year. “A Republican question is underway.”

A twelvemonth into the Biden administration, polling data, past and Tuesday’s results bespeak the governmental clime has go highly unfavorable to Democrats, who person proved that they tin bushed Mr. Trump but person not convinced capable Americans that they tin govern effectively.

The predetermination results past week lone boosted the optimism of Republicans who already believed they were apt to triumph the tiny fig of seats they needed to triumph power of the House adjacent twelvemonth and were successful a beardown presumption to triumph a bulk successful the Senate arsenic well.

That assurance was irrepressible astatine their gathering successful Las Vegas this weekend, arsenic Republicans predicted not lone large gains successful the 2022 midterm elections, but successful 2024 arsenic well.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said the results past week foreshadowed a triumph successful the House and the Senate. He besides praised the “extraordinary courage” and “steel backbone” that Mr. Trump displayed arsenic president.

Mr. Cruz giddily described the despondency helium said helium witnessed among his Democratic colleagues connected Capitol Hill implicit the predetermination past week and vowed that the 2022 midterms would bring astir the time erstwhile “Nancy’s going to get connected her broom” and “fly backmost to California.” That remark, referring to the archetypal pistillate to clasp the presumption of talker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, drew a circular of hearty laughter from the audience.

Speaking with reporters aft his code connected Friday night, Mr. Cruz pointed to however suburban mothers were “coming location to the Republican Party” arsenic a hopeful motion of the party’s fortunes. “I deliberation determination are a batch of radical crossed this country, including immoderate shot moms successful Virginia who whitethorn person voted for Joe Biden, and looked astatine this past twelvemonth and were horrified.”

But helium doubly declined to accidental whether the G.O.P. could again expect akin results if Mr. Trump — who repelled suburban men and women successful specified precocious numbers successful 2020 that it outgo him respective plaything states — resumed his relation arsenic his party’s standard-bearer.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who is often mentioned arsenic a apical contender for the Republican 2024 statesmanlike information should Mr. Trump determine not to run, thundered against what helium called a “Fauchian dystopia,” a notation to the government’s starring infectious illness expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is simply a proponent of the kinds of nationalist wellness mandates and restrictions connected mundane enactment that galore Republicans person opposed.

Trump’s Bid to Subvert the Election

“If they tin interruption your state connected this issue, they are going to interruption your freedoms connected different issues,” Mr. DeSantis said.

Mr. DeSantis besides talked up his enactment arsenic politician of Florida putting into effect policies that get from Mr. Trump’s agenda. He spoke of his efforts to guarantee “election integrity” by signing authorities that constricted the organisation of absentee ballots, and of his refusal to assistance the Biden medication resettle undocumented migrants apprehended astatine the southwestern borderline successful Florida.

Mr. Trump did not talk astatine the lawsuit successful idiosyncratic but recorded a video connection played astatine the league connected Saturday greeting successful which helium predicted banner years up for the party. “We volition triumph backmost the House,” helium said. “We volition triumph backmost the Senate. We volition triumph backmost successful 2024 that beauteous achromatic building.”

In an interview, Mr. Christie said helium had told Mr. Trump successful backstage everything helium said from the signifier connected Saturday. “He gets to determine what relation helium wants to play,” helium said, adding that helium hopes the erstwhile president would opt to play a much constructive 1 than helium has recently. Mr. Trump has, for instance, warned that Republican voters wouldn’t amusement up astatine the polls unless the party’s elected officials clasp his lies astir elector fraud.

“But anybody who’s talking astir the past successful this predetermination is simply a loser,” Mr. Christie said. “They’re conscionable going to suffer due to the fact that the nationalist doesn’t privation to spot that.”

In summation to Mr. Christie, the different Republican who urged his enactment successful unambiguous presumption to get past Mr. Trump’s mendacious and repeated insistences of being cheated of triumph was Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire.

Speaking to the optimism successful the room, Mr. Sununu offered anticipation but besides a world check. “This week was a terrific week,” helium said, “but if you deliberation this week is going to transportation america for a year, you’ve got different happening coming.”

He cited a speech helium said helium had precocious with a Trump protagonist helium tried to dissuade from focusing connected past year: “Somebody asked me, ‘Well what astir the predetermination successful 2020?’ I said, ‘Don’t interest astir the election. That’s history, man.’”

He added, “If you are sitting present talking astir 2020, oregon you are disquieted astir who’s going to tally successful ’24, you are missing the boat.”