Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: DEMOCRATS notched another victory on January 31 in special elections during President Donald Trump’s second term, flipping a seat in the Texas Senate in a district Trump won by 17 points in 2024.
Taylor Rehmet, a union president and Air Force veteran, defeated Trumpbacked Leigh Wambsganss in a runoff for the Fort Worth-area 9th District. With nearly all of the vote counted as of February 1 morning, Rehmet held a 14-point lead over Wambsganss, a roughly 31-point swing toward the Democrats when compared with the 2024 presidential results there and one of the party’s strongest recent special election performances.
Trump had made a late push for Wambsganss, posting on social media in support of her campaign three times in the last two days of the race. Democrats flipped more than 20 state legislative seats in special or regularly scheduled elections last year. Most recently, in December they won a Georgia district that Trump had carried by about 12 points. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin pointed to Rehmet’s win as proof that the party is regaining its footing when it comes to broader voter outreach and messaging ahead of the midterms.
