As the results poured in Tuesday night, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) declared that, aside from the president, perhaps the biggest loser of the night was Hillary Clinton.
"I think we’re going to pick up enough [seats] to take over the Senate,” Paul said on Fox News, “and I think it is a repudiation basically of the president's policies, but also Hillary Clinton.”
Judging by the ineffectiveness of the Clintons on the campaign trail, Paul might be right. Here’s a breakdown of the key candidates they stumped for -- and the results. Overall, at least 21 candidates the Clintons stumped for lost.
LOSSES
Arkansas: In two stinging defeats, the Clintons failed to drum up enough support for Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Pryor–hammered by his Republican opponent, losing by 17 points—and gubernatorial hopeful Mike Ross (Bill’s former campaign driver), who lost to Republican Asa Hutchinson, 45/52. The National Review called the defeats “a definitive turn away from the Democratic party.”
Colorado: The Clintons’ efforts to reelect Sen. Mark Udall also failed. Bill and Hillary stumped multiple times for Udall, who lost the crucial race by a wider than expected margin to Republican opponent Corey Gardner, 45/50.
Hillary also stumped for congressional hopeful Andrew Romanoff and incumbent Gov. John Hickenlooper. Romanoff lost by 10 points, while Hickenlooper currently has a slight edge in a tight race.
Florida: Though Bill joined Charlie Crist on the stage for his final rally, Crist went down to Republican Gov. Rick Scott in a squeaker.
Iowa: The Clintons put their full weight behind senatorial candidate Bill Braley in Iowa. He went down by almost 9 points to Republican Joni Ernst.
Kentucky: Despite Hillary’s efforts in Kentucky, Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes went down in flames against Republican incumbent Sen. Mitch McConnell by an embarrassing 16-point margin.
Maryland: Though the Clintons and the Obamas visited Maryland to back Democratic gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown, he lost in a stunning upset—perhaps the biggest shocker of the night—to Republican businessman Republican Larry Hogan
North Carolina: The Clintons pulled out all the stops for the important senatorial race in North Carolina, but Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan ended up losing by just under two points to Republican Thom Tillis.
Likely loser: Louisiana: Hillary went down to Louisiana to appear alongside Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu to try to get her to 50%, but now Landrieu is in a run-off with Republican Bill Cassidy that looks grim for her.
WINS
California: Bill made a few stops to back congressional candidates, including Julia Brownley, Raul Ruiz, and Jon Garamendi, all of whom won. He also backed Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar. (Dr. Ami Bera, a California congressional candidate involved in one of Bill’s stump speeches, lost.)
Florida: Bill lent his support to Democratic congressional candidate Gwen Graham, who went on to defeat Republican incumbent Steve Southerland (one of the few Republican congressional upsets).
New Hampshire: Hillary stumped for Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who eked out a tight race with Scott Brown, and Gov. Maggie Hassan, who also won Tuesday.
Pennsylvania: Both Bill and Hillary Clinton visited Pennsylvania to make sure that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf kept his lead.
