Democrats Win Big In Kentucky State Senate Race

 

There's something happening here, what it is ain't  is exactly clear: 

Democrats continued their string of special election victories on Tuesday with a blowout win in a Kentucky state senate district that former Vice President Kamala Harris only carried by 5 points in 2024, according to calls by Decision Desk and the Louisville Courier Journal.

Kentucky Senate District 37, which consists of the neighborhoods of Louisville just west of the airport, has been vacant ever since Democratic Sen. David Yates was appointed clerk of Jefferson County. Republicans were hoping to be competitive in the race after the narrow margins in the presidential election.

But the district was more Democratic in downballot races, Yates having carried the seat by 21 points. And on Tuesday evening, Democratic candidate Gary Clemons clinched a landslide victory against Republican Calvin Leach. As of 7:30 p.m., Clemons was up by a margin of 72.6% to Leach's 25.1%.

As President Donald Trump has seen his popularity falling and voters' opinion on the economy continues to sour, Democrats have racked up a number of overperformance victories around the country, including the November elections in Virginia, New Jersey, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.

They followed up with an unusually close contest in a heavily Republican, gerrymandered congressional special election in Nashville, Tennessee.  (our emphasis)

From a 21 point margin to a 47 point margin.  We'd like to see the breakout on the vote.  We expect it will show the same great Democratic turnout, combined with enhanced turnout from independents, infrequent voters, and disaffected Republicans that we've seen to one extent or another in other races this year.  November 2026 can't come too soon.

(Photo:  State Sen.- elect Clemons and Gov. Andy Beshear / Michael Clevenger, Courier Journal)

 

Democrats Ascendant In Recent Elections

 

Democrats in disarray array!

More evidence that Democrats are energized, united, and voting:

Four states held special elections or primaries on Tuesday, and all four were encouraging for Democrats:

• A much-watched primary for a crucial Wisconsin Supreme Court seat was technically nonpartisan, but featured two candidates clearly more aligned with the left and two competing to be the conservative candidate. The left-leaning candidates combined for 54 percent, while the right-leaning ones combined for 46 percent; the field is now narrowed to two candidates, one left-leaning and one right-leaning. (This is in a state that has been decided by less than a percentage point in the last two presidential elections, and where the first round in a 2020 state Supreme Court race was very close.) Also, the de facto Democratic nominee, Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz, is currently taking slightly more of the vote than the two GOP-aligned candidates together.
• In the special election for Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, Democrat Jennifer McClellan is currently winning by 49 points in a district President Biden won by 36 points in 2020. Compare that margin to those of the late Democratic incumbent Rep. Donald McEachin in 2022 (30 points) and the party’s 2021 gubernatorial nominee (who carried the district by 13 points).
• In a Kentucky race, Democratic state Senate candidate Cassie Chambers Armstrong won by 54 points in a district Biden carried by 30, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
• And in New Hampshire, Democrats held on to a key state House seat in the closely divided chamber, winning by 11 points in a race that was literally tied on Election Day 2022. (The state reran the election after each candidate emerged with the same number of votes.)

The results come on top of a trio of Pennsylvania state House special elections earlier this month in which Democrats significantly over-performed in the 2020 presidential election results. That Democrats won the seats wasn’t surprising — the closest district favored Biden by 16 points in 2020 — but Democrats exceeded those 2020 margins by 14, 24, and 33 points with control of the chamber at stake.

Of course, this all comes with the usual caveats: 1) things change and 2) don't take anything for granted. But these off- year results show Democrats making impressive gains, especially overperforming in some swing states.  There's  doubtless been a lot of organizing and hard work leading to those successes (as well as the all- important candidate quality).  Also, Democrats are the party of democracy and getting things done for the people, so they've got a positive and forward- thinking agenda to run on.  It doesn't hurt that they also have momentum and energy on their side (for now).