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MaddowBlog-In 2025 special elections, voters keep telling Republicans what they don't want to hear
The more Democrats win in 2025 special elections, the more obvious the public backlash to Donald Trump and Republicans becomes.
In the aftermath of the 2024 elections, the conventional wisdom suggested that Republicans had entered an era of electoral dominance.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-08-27T12:35:39.505Z
The more Democratic candidates flip red seats and overperform in 2025 elections, the more those assumptions unravel. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/2025-special-elections-voters-keep-telling-republicans-dont-want-hear-rcna227444
As 2025 got underway, there was a closely watched state Senate special election in Iowa, in a race Republicans expected to win. It was, after held in a district that Donald Trump won a few months early by 21 points. A Democratic candidate nevertheless managed to flip the seat from red to blue.
This week, it happened again. NBC News reported on Democrats flipping another state Senate seat in Iowa:
As a practical matter, in Iowa’s state capitol, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has relied on her party’s two-thirds supermajority in the chamber to confirm her nominees, but thanks to the latest Democratic victory, that supermajority is now gone. (Drey will succeed Republican Sen. Rocky De Witt who died of cancer in June.)
But part of what makes the results so notable is the partisan circumstances: As The Downballot’s David Nir explained in a detailed post-election analysis, this latest Democratic special election victory came in a red seat in a red state: Trump carried this same district by 11 points last fall......
In the aftermath of Election Day 2024, the conventional wisdom suggested not only that Republicans had entered an era of electoral dominance, but also that Democratic voters were demoralized, disheartened and prepared to withdraw from civic life for a long while. The more Democratic candidates overperform in 2025 elections, the more those assumptions unravel.
This week, it happened again. NBC News reported on Democrats flipping another state Senate seat in Iowa:
Iowa Democrats scored a significant victory Tuesday by flipping a Republican seat in a special election and breaking the GOP supermajority in the state Senate. Catelin Drey won the Sioux City-area district with 55% of the vote to Republican opponent Christopher Prosch’s 44%, according to unofficial results with all precincts reporting.
As a practical matter, in Iowa’s state capitol, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has relied on her party’s two-thirds supermajority in the chamber to confirm her nominees, but thanks to the latest Democratic victory, that supermajority is now gone. (Drey will succeed Republican Sen. Rocky De Witt who died of cancer in June.)
But part of what makes the results so notable is the partisan circumstances: As The Downballot’s David Nir explained in a detailed post-election analysis, this latest Democratic special election victory came in a red seat in a red state: Trump carried this same district by 11 points last fall......
In the aftermath of Election Day 2024, the conventional wisdom suggested not only that Republicans had entered an era of electoral dominance, but also that Democratic voters were demoralized, disheartened and prepared to withdraw from civic life for a long while. The more Democratic candidates overperform in 2025 elections, the more those assumptions unravel.