By John A. Tures, Professor of Political Science, LaGrange College

Stung by losses all over the country, in red and purple states, not just blue ones, Republicans may be rethinking the decision to “hitch their wagon to a star” in the form of lame duck President Donald Trump. A rise in resignations and retirement announcements in 2025 may be just the start for the Grand Old Party, which clearly needs a Great New Makeover.

There’s no place closer to Ground Zero for problems for the GOP than Georgia. In addition to the successful Public Service Commission races in 2025 (the first success in these contests for Democrats since 2000), we have since learned that former State Representative Mary Robichaux, a Democrat, defeated a GOP-Governor backed incumbent Kurt Wilson in a mayoral election in Roswell.

“While the mayoral election was non-partisan, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, had called on Georgia voters to back Wilson, calling him a ‘Republican’ mayor who had kept his city ‘safe and thriving,’” wrote Kate Plummer with MSN.

Then there’s the matter of a deep red Congressional seat in Tennessee, where a Democratic candidate more than halved a Republican candidate’s 22 point advantage, according to PBS. The GOP and MAGA groups had to dump a lot of money just to hold the seat.

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has decided she’s had enough, especially over the Trump Administration and GOP House Leadership position on the Epstein Files, among other issues. The recent conservative rumblings about repealing the 19^th Amendment probably aren’t contributing to how Republican women feel in their own party. Some speculated that Greene would run for Georgia Governor or Senator, but we haven’t seen any moves in this direction. Instead, outgoing Rep. Greene is making a calculation that others in her party be considering: A Republican Party without the Trump baggage.

On 60 Minutes, Rep. Greene accused Trump of betraying the MAGA Movement and claimed he was not “America First.” Rather than going liberal or switching to a Democrat (though she is casting more votes with them), she may be considering a conservative movement in America, without Trump, whose policies are more about self than alignment with a true conservative.

Last week, former Representative John Katko, a New York Republican, delighted my Congress and the Presidency class, liberal and conservative alike, with his stories of working as a prosecutor, taking on the drug cartels in El Paso, Texas and the Russian Mafia before running for Congress. They also were excited about his bipartisan record, and his willingness to work with Democrats and Independents on a number of issues. He was scathing in his critique of ultraconservatives and those who align themselves with a certain White House occupant. “At the end of the day, when you’re retired, you’ve got to think about what you’ve done, and whether you’re proud of it,” he told our students when it came to controversial votes, including those against Trump.

It reminded me of the way Republicans used to be before 2016.

In November, Trump’s Gallup approval rating was down to 36%. It was always in single digits with Democrats, but he’s lost six points with Republicans since his inauguration (90% to 84%) and a more than 20 points with independents (47% to 25%). Unless the GOP figures out how to craft a future without their increasing unpopular leader, even gerrymandering won’t save the party.

John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. His views are his own. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu or on “X” at @johntures2. His first book “Branded” has been published by the Huntsville Independent Press (https://www.huntsvilleindependent.com/product-page/branded).