Ten straight special election flips. Zero Republican pickups. A Democrat just won a district Trump carried by 9 points, outspent two to one, with no outside help, running against a candidate backed by the Koch network. Since Trump’s second term began, Republicans have not flipped a single Democratic seat. Not one. The voters are not waiting for 2026. They have already started.
This race also shows the importance of perseverance. Many candidates would have given up after one loss, much less two. But Boudin put in the work and had the advantage of name recognition. With a 400-seat legislature, NH house races are hyper-local and name recognition counts for a lot - and clearly can offset a big spending advantage. This bodes well for November!
In addition, last night's special election in MTG's GA house district resulted in a run-off between Trump's endorsed candidate, Clay Fuller, and Democrat Shawn Harris. There were 17 candidates running - 14 Republicans and 3 Democrats. The third and fourth place finishers ((both Republicans) got 11.6% and 4.7%, respectively - so the Trump endorsement wasn't enough to clear the field.
Harris was MTG's opponent in Nov. 2024 - so another case of perseverance. The odds are slim that Harris could win in the run-off in this ruby red district, but the need for a runoff means that this seat will remain open until after the Apr 7th election. I believe that anything that hamstrings Mike Johnson further should be viewed as a win!
You make an excellent point about candidates being willing to run more than once in order to gain name recognition. It is a lesson that I wish Democrats in Indiana would learn. Part of my issue with running "sacrificial lambs" is that often the candidate does not run a strong campaign, and it is a different candidate every time. Losing badly, election after election, creates a sense of futility. I am not saying that this is true of all the Democratic candidates, but on the local and state legislature level, it is particularly so.
Last year I wrote a lot of postcards for the VA House of Delegates races even though I live in NC.
Grassroots activists recruited a candidate to run in each of the 100 House of Delegates races - including rural districts that were up to R +63 (IIRC). There were 27 candidates that were running in at least R+16 districts. One of the masterminds behind running in every district, Fergie Reid Jr., asked Charles Gaba to post a second fund-raising page for Virginia on what is now Blue26.org. They called it the "Virginia Value Pack" and the goal was to raise $5K for each of these candidates so that they could set up a simple website, print some literature and yard signs to get their names out there.
I don't think any of the "sacrificial lambs" won their races, but they did make a measurable impact on Democratic turnout in their districts and helped widen the margins in the 3 marquee races for Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General.
And they were able to recruit several Democratic candidates who had narrowly lost their races in 2023 to run again in 2025 and most (if not all of them) won their races this time. One difference may be that the VA grassroots groups like Network NOVA (Northern VA), COVA Coalition (Coastal VA), Rural Ground Game and others support their first time candidates and hold events where they meet each other and can bounce ideas off one another.
Does Indiana have any grassroots groups or is it just the state Democratic party? That might be the problem!
Maybe Repuglicans are learning that actions speak louder than words. I wonder who profits from all their campaign spending? Certainly not the citizens of their districts.
I am hoping that NC Democrats can flip a few more house seats and maybe even a senate seat or two. The GOP still has a veto-proof majority in the NC senate and is only 1 seat away from one in the NC house.
At least we can breathe big sighs of relief over the primary results - those turncoat Democrats who voted with the GOP caucus to override Gov. Stein's vetoes were kicked to the curb!!
Ten straight special election flips. Zero Republican pickups. A Democrat just won a district Trump carried by 9 points, outspent two to one, with no outside help, running against a candidate backed by the Koch network. Since Trump’s second term began, Republicans have not flipped a single Democratic seat. Not one. The voters are not waiting for 2026. They have already started.
This race also shows the importance of perseverance. Many candidates would have given up after one loss, much less two. But Boudin put in the work and had the advantage of name recognition. With a 400-seat legislature, NH house races are hyper-local and name recognition counts for a lot - and clearly can offset a big spending advantage. This bodes well for November!
In addition, last night's special election in MTG's GA house district resulted in a run-off between Trump's endorsed candidate, Clay Fuller, and Democrat Shawn Harris. There were 17 candidates running - 14 Republicans and 3 Democrats. The third and fourth place finishers ((both Republicans) got 11.6% and 4.7%, respectively - so the Trump endorsement wasn't enough to clear the field.
Harris was MTG's opponent in Nov. 2024 - so another case of perseverance. The odds are slim that Harris could win in the run-off in this ruby red district, but the need for a runoff means that this seat will remain open until after the Apr 7th election. I believe that anything that hamstrings Mike Johnson further should be viewed as a win!
You make an excellent point about candidates being willing to run more than once in order to gain name recognition. It is a lesson that I wish Democrats in Indiana would learn. Part of my issue with running "sacrificial lambs" is that often the candidate does not run a strong campaign, and it is a different candidate every time. Losing badly, election after election, creates a sense of futility. I am not saying that this is true of all the Democratic candidates, but on the local and state legislature level, it is particularly so.
Last year I wrote a lot of postcards for the VA House of Delegates races even though I live in NC.
Grassroots activists recruited a candidate to run in each of the 100 House of Delegates races - including rural districts that were up to R +63 (IIRC). There were 27 candidates that were running in at least R+16 districts. One of the masterminds behind running in every district, Fergie Reid Jr., asked Charles Gaba to post a second fund-raising page for Virginia on what is now Blue26.org. They called it the "Virginia Value Pack" and the goal was to raise $5K for each of these candidates so that they could set up a simple website, print some literature and yard signs to get their names out there.
I don't think any of the "sacrificial lambs" won their races, but they did make a measurable impact on Democratic turnout in their districts and helped widen the margins in the 3 marquee races for Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General.
And they were able to recruit several Democratic candidates who had narrowly lost their races in 2023 to run again in 2025 and most (if not all of them) won their races this time. One difference may be that the VA grassroots groups like Network NOVA (Northern VA), COVA Coalition (Coastal VA), Rural Ground Game and others support their first time candidates and hold events where they meet each other and can bounce ideas off one another.
Does Indiana have any grassroots groups or is it just the state Democratic party? That might be the problem!
Maybe Repuglicans are learning that actions speak louder than words. I wonder who profits from all their campaign spending? Certainly not the citizens of their districts.
Years ago I saw a bump sticker that put it succinctly:
"Support democracy. Buy a politician."
Yes!!!
I really wonder how many more state legislatures and governorships are within Democratic reach this year:
– Legislature control flipped
– GOP supermajorities broken
– New Democratic trifectas
etc.
I am hoping that NC Democrats can flip a few more house seats and maybe even a senate seat or two. The GOP still has a veto-proof majority in the NC senate and is only 1 seat away from one in the NC house.
At least we can breathe big sighs of relief over the primary results - those turncoat Democrats who voted with the GOP caucus to override Gov. Stein's vetoes were kicked to the curb!!
Bravo! Keep up the good work!!