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Democrat Renee Hardman made history after winning the Iowa Senate District 16 seat to become Iowa’s first Black female senator, defeating Republican Lucas Loftin in a Dec. 30 special election to hold off a GOP supermajority.

Hardman earned 71.4% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the Iowa Secretary of State, to represent the district that includes parts of West Des Moines, Clive and Windsor Heights — continuing a string of special election wins that have buoyed Iowa Democrats heading into the 2026 midterm elections.

Since Nielsen started measuring TV ratings in 1950, there has not been a U.S. president as obsessed with them as Donald Trump. He boasts about his own ratings, uses them to bash his rivals, and even makes suggestions about how various networks and shows could improve their own ratings. Kennedy Center Honors, have been a holiday programming staple since it began in 1978. However, this year Trump is on a mission to recast the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in his own image. The results? The show drew its smallest audience ever, a 35% decline from 2024.

Democrats continued their run of successes in special elections by flipping a state House seat in Georgia Tuesday, .

The Democratic victory, in a district that voted for President Donald Trump by about 12 percentage points last year, comes ahead of next year’s critical midterms, when Georgians will vote in closely watched races for Senate and governor. Gisler won 51% of the vote a swing of 14 points.

Eric Gisler, a Democrat who owns a local olive oil store, defeated Republican Mack “Dutch” Guest in the 121st House District, in the northeastern part of the state, near the college town of Athens.

Between regularly scheduled elections in Virginia and New Jersey and special elections held on newly redrawn maps in Mississippi, Democrats flipped about 20 state legislative seats on Election Day last month. Those victories came after Democrats flipped two seats in Iowa and one in Pennsylvania during special elections earlier in the year.

Republicans still control a significant majority in the Georgia House, but Tuesday’s results come just a month after Democrats won two statewide elections to flip two seats on the state’s Public Service Commission.

In another race, GOP candidate prevailed 27.4% to Democrat 26.7%

Eileen Higgins will be the next mayor of the city of Miami, breaking a nearly 30-year Republican streak in holding the nonpartisan seat and giving Democrats another example of strong performance in elections during the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term.

Higgins, a former county commissioner, will defeat city manager Emilio Gonzalez, who was endorsed by Trump. She secured 59% of the votes. Higgins will become the first woman to lead the city in its 129-year history.”

In 2021, GOP candidate won 79% of the vote.

Republican Matt Van Epps won Tuesday’s special election for Tennessee’s 7th congressional district defeating Democratic state Rep. Aftyn Behn.

Both parties poured millions into what should have been a sleepy special election to replace GOP Mark Green

In 2024, Green carried the seat by 21 points while Trump won by 22. On Tuesday, Van Epps won by 9 points. But his 9-point victory is too close for comfort: suggesting a swing to Democrats nationally that could be enough to sweep away GOP control of the House come 2026. Some Democratic strategists (and neutral observers, for that matter) see it as an indication of a nascent blue wave in the 2026 midterms.

Democrats won everything everywhere on election night.  We ran diverse candidates who reflected and understood their voters —  from conservative Virginia to recently less blue New Jersey to deep blue New York City. In Virginia, Abigail Spanberger made history, winning the governor’s race by 15 points and becoming the state’s first woman governor.  In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill won by 13 points — the first time any party has held the governorship for three straight terms since 1961, and this just a few years after Trump only lost the state by six.  In New York City, newcomer Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, received more than 50% of the vote, showed a different vision that attracted young voters. California voted by 30 points to redistrict in a way that could add five Democratic seats — a clear answer to Trump’s Texas partisan redistricting. Democrats didn’t want to go there, because we believe in rules, norms, and fairness, but we had to respond and fight fire with fire to protect our democracy.  In Pennsylvania, Republicans spent millions trying to remove three Supreme Court justices who had ruled for election integrity. Every single one of them easily won their retention vote. Virginia Democrats picked up 13 seats in the House of Delegates. Maine voters rejected a voter ID ballot measure. And in Georgia — yes, Georgia — voters flipped both Public Service Commission seats to Democrats.

It was a huge night for Democrats and for democracy itself.
Trump will only grow more extreme, more reckless, and more unhinged after this. But we’re not backing down.

The work continues.

Longest government shutdown in history continues. The courts had to order Trump not to starve our children while he and his wealthy Republican friends feasted at an opulent Great Gatsby affair even as SNAP benefits expired. Democrats are fighting to stop Trump from cutting ACA subsidies — cuts that would strip millions of working families of their healthcare, putting spouses and children’s lives at risk — while he showers his billionaire allies with tax breaks. The Court had to order Trump not to fire or furlough federal workers without pay while he was literally demolishing the Peoples House to build a tacky gold ballroom.