Dem Flips GOP Texas Senate District    02/02 06:18

   

   (AP) -- Democrat Taylor Rehmet flipped a reliably Republican state Senate 
district in Texas in Saturday's special election, continuing a string of 
surprise victories for Democrats across the U.S. in the year since Donald Trump 
returned to the White House.

   The Republican president immediately distanced himself from the loss in a 
district he'd won by 17 points in 2024.

   "I'm not involved in that. That's a local Texas race," Trump told reporters 
Sunday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

   Yet just a day before the race, Trump had heaped praise on Republican 
contender Leigh Wambsganss, a conservative activist and entrepreneur, on his 
social media platform, declaring that she would be "a GREAT Candidate and has 
my Complete and Total Endorsement." A longer post came later, in which he urged 
Texans to get out and vote, describing Wambsganss as a successful entrepreneur 
and "an incredible supporter" of his Make America Great Again movement.

   Despite the plugs, Wambsganss was easily trounced in the Fort Worth-area 
district by Rehmet, a labor union leader and veteran, for a partial term ending 
in early January. With almost all votes counted, Rehmet was leading by more 
than 14 percentage points.

   "This win goes to everyday working people," Rehmet told supporters.

   Republican Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called the outcome "a wake-up call for 
Republicans across Texas," where the GOP controls every statewide office.

   "Our voters cannot take anything for granted," Patrick wrote on X, while 
noting low-turnout special elections are always unpredictable. "I know the 
energy and strength the Republican grassroots in Texas possess. We will come 
out fighting with a new resolve, and we will take this seat back in November."

   Rehmet's victory added to the Democrats' record of overperforming in special 
elections so far this cycle, beginning in March -- when they prevailed in a 
Pennsylvania legislative district made up of suburbanites and farmers that 
Democrats hadn't held in a century -- and continuing through to November, when 
they dominated candidate and ballot contests from Maine to California.

   And Zohran Mamdani, an unapologetic Democratic Socialist, was elected mayor 
of New York City, a Democratic stronghold that saw the highest voter turnout in 
a mayor's race in 50 years.

   The showings come as Trump's approval ratings with the public hold steady at 
around 40%. A January AP-NORC poll found that a majority of U.S. adults 
disapprove of the way he's handling foreign policy, trade negotiations and 
immigration, as well as the economy.

   Democrats said Saturday's results in Texas were further evidence that voters 
under the second Trump administration are motivated to reject GOP candidates 
and their policies.

   Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder said Rehmet won by standing 
with working people and talking to Texans about the future.

   "This win shows what is possible in Texas with strong organizing, great 
candidates and strategic investments," he said in a statement. "People are 
noticing that Democrats have the workers' backs and are delivering results."

   Democrats' other state victories since 2025 included wins for governor in 
Virginia and New Jersey and in special elections in Kentucky and Iowa. And, 
while Republican Matt Van Epps won a Tennessee special election for a U.S. 
House seat, the relatively slim margin of victory gave Democrats hope for this 
fall's midterms.

   With that backdrop in mind, Trump and Vice President JD Vance have pushed 
states to redraw their political maps to Republicans' advantage headed into 
those contests, which will determine partisan control in Washington. Some 
Democratic states -- most notably California -- have pushed back with their own 
redistricting efforts.

   The Texas Senate seat was open because the four-term GOP incumbent, Kelly 
Hancock, resigned to take a statewide office. Hancock easily won election each 
time he ran for the office, and Republicans have held the seat for decades.

   The district is redder than its home, Tarrant County. Trump won the county 
by 5 points in 2024, but Democratic President Joe Biden carried it in 2020 by 
about 1,800 votes out of more than 834,000 cast.

   But Rehmet had support from national organizations, including the DNC and 
VoteVets, a veterans group that said it spent $500,000 on ads. Rehmet, who 
served in the Air Force and works as a machinist, focused on lowering costs, 
supporting public education and protecting jobs.

   Wambsganss called Saturday's result "a wakeup call for Republicans in 
Tarrant County, Texas, and the nation" and warned her party not to be 
complacent.

   "The Democrats were energized," she said in a statement. "Too many 
Republicans stayed home."

   Rehmet's victory allows him to serve only until early January. He will face 
Wambsganss again in the November general election to decide who occupies the 
seat for a full four-year term. The Texas Legislature is not set to reconvene 
until 2027, and the GOP still will have a comfortable majority.