Lou

Louisiana’s state legislative special election was supposed to be a very different kind of contest. A Democratic state representative gave up his seat to become commissioner of the state Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control, and Republicans saw this as a unique opportunity to do something the party hasn’t done in a while: flip a seat from blue to red.

That didn’t happen. 

Democrat Chasity Verret Martinez won Saturday’s special election for State House District 60, defeating Republican Brad Daigle.

Martinez, a member of the Iberville Parish Council, earned 62% of the vote against Daigle, a small-business owner and member of the Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission.

At first blush, this might not seem especially notable, since a Democratic candidate won a special election to replace a former Democratic legislator.

But the details matter. Trump carried this district by 13 points in the 2024 cycle, fueling GOP hopes about flipping the state House seat.

Instead, the Democratic nominee prevailed — by 24 points.

Democrat Taylor Rehmet flipped a deep red Republican State Senate district in Fort Worth Texas by 14 points in Saturday’s special election.  Republicans have held this seat for decades and Trump carried it by 17 points in 2024.  This 30 point swing has continued our string of winning virtually every special election since March.

The DanversDems hosted our annual MLK Jr. Day of Service.  This year we hosted a food drive for our Danvers People to People Food Pantry.

Thank you to Liz and the Blue Crew for hosting a most successful Food Drive for the Danvers People to People Food Pantry. Despite the weather, DanversDems and the people of Danvers turned out to help their neighbors.

When we left the Food Pantry at 2:00 PM, we already knew that we had collected far more food and toiletries than in previous years. Later when Liz tallied the financial donations from the donation box along with online donations, we found that an additional $885 had been raised. An extraordinary day.

Thank you to all the DanversDems and the Danvers residents who donated in celebration of MLK Jr Day of Service.

We also extend our sincere thanks to our local elected officials and candidates who stopped by, donated and spent time with members. Thanks to Congressman Seth Moulton, candidates for the Congress 6th District: Dan Koh with Theodora, Rick Jakious, Jamie Belsito and to our always supportive State Representative Sally Kerans and Senator Joan Lovely.

Well Done!

For more information, please contact Liz@danversdemocrats.org

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.