“Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a special election for the Texas state Senate on Saturday, flipping a reliably Republican district that President Donald Trump won by 17 points in 2024,” notes Yahoo News:
Rehmet, a labor union leader and veteran, easily defeated Republican Leigh Wambsganss, a conservative activist, in the Fort Worth-area district. With almost all votes counted, Rehmet had a comfortable lead of more than 14 percentage points….
His victory added to Democrats’ record of overperforming in special elections so far this cycle. Democrats said it was further evidence that voters under the second Trump administration are motivated to reject GOP candidates and their policies.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin called it “a warning sign to Republicans across the country.”
The seat was open because the four-term GOP incumbent, Kelly Hancock, resigned to take a statewide office. Hancock easily won election each time he ran for the office, and Republicans have held the seat for decades….Trump posted about the race on his social media platform earlier Saturday, urging voters to get out to support Wambsganss. He called her a successful entrepreneur and “an incredible supporter” of his Make America Great Again movement.
Democrats poured $500,000 into electing Rehmet, in a district where Democrats usually spent far less than that in the past.
Democrats made gains last year in state elections in Virginia and New Jersey. Democrats won 64 of 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, which used to be dominated by Republicans. Republicans had controlled the Virginia House of Delegates by a 67-to-33 margin back in 2016, but now Democrats have 64 seats and the GOP has only 36 seats. Republicans controlled both house of the Virginia legislature in 2016, but now control neither house. Democrats expanded their wide majority in the New Jersey legislature in the 2025 elections.
