Democrats Make Big Gains in Key Battlegrounds

To everyone's short term relief the Felon - in another TACO episode - agreed to a two week cease fire with Iran shortly before his own announced deadline was to expire.  Where this ill-thought through war goes next is anyone's guess given that the Iranian regime is perhaps more extreme than the one before the war and the Felon's regime is demanding things that Iran would likely never accept.  Again, it's obvious that the Felon launched his war of choice with no real plan and most certainly no exit strategy. Even if the Strait of Hormuz is temporarily open during the cease fire,  Iran can easily close it again and the Felon may be right back where he found himself when he threated war crimes against Iranian civilians.  Meanwhile on the home front, several special elections yesterday showed Democrats significantly over performing (including expanding the liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court) and sending a message that ought to have Republicans worried about the 2026 mid-terms despite their attempts at naysaying.  Yes, the Republican won the seat formerly held by Marjorie Taylor Green, but the margin of the Republican win was only one-third of the Felon's margin in 2024.  A piece at Politico looks at yesterday's election results:

Democrats just had one of their best election nights since [the Felon] President Donald Trump returned to the White House. Again.

In Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election, the Democratic-backed candidate sailed to a nearly 20-point landslide victory Tuesday in a battleground Trump carried less than two years ago. Meanwhile, a Georgia Democrat slashed Trump’s margin of victory by two thirds in the state’s reddest district despite losing the election — the most significant overperformance the party has seen across all seven House special elections so far this cycle.

The results in the battleground states — home to key Senate, gubernatorial and House races — are the latest repudiation from voters of Trump and his agenda and flashing warning signs for the GOP heading into November.

“It’s a wow moment in Wisconsin politics,” said former Republican strategist Brandon Scholz, who left the party in 2021. “Republicans ought to be sitting down tonight and going, ‘Okay, we just screwed up another race. What are we going to do in November?’”

Chris Taylor, a liberal Wisconsin judge, led by 20 points with 90 percent of votes counted — nearly double the already-large margin another liberal candidate won by in 2025 — and she did it by making cuts into GOP strongholds.

In Georgia, Democrat Shawn Harris lost to Republican Clay Fuller, but the margin was only 12 points with nearly all votes counted, roughly one-third the 37-point margin Trump won by in 2024.

While Tuesday’s results are not a perfect parallel to November, the consistent Democratic overperformances in races large and small since Trump returned to the White House suggest the base is motivated to turn out for all manner of contests.

Democrats were elated with the results.  “Election after election continues to show what we have been saying over the last year and a half,” said CJ Warnke, the spokesperson for House Majority PAC, a Democratic super PAC aligned with Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “Americans are fed up with broken promises on no new wars and lower prices on day one from Trump and Republicans.”

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said on X that Harris’ overperformance was evidence that “enthusiasm for Democrats is growing everywhere.”

There were other signs of Democratic momentum, too: Taylor was leading in Ozaukee County, one of Wisconsin’s most reliably red areas. Her strong performance statewide also helped down ballot, where a Democrat won the Waukesha mayoral contest, which was open after an independent — who left the GOP and endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024 — opted not to run for reelection.

Heather Williams, who leads Democrats’ legislative-focused campaign arm, called Taylor’s win in Wisconsin a “decisive victory” that “marks changing tides.”

Many Republicans were quick to dismiss the results in both contests. . . . One longtime Wisconsin Republican strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly, cast the blame on Maria Lazar, the GOP-backed state Supreme Court candidate who was massively outspent in the race.

Republicans in Georgia similarly said the margins in their state’s special election were nothing to worry about, pointing to Harris’ strong fundraising and name ID in the district after running against former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in 2024.