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In a devastating blow to the President and his party, Democrats have scored yet another victory in a district that Trump took convincingly in 2016.
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BREAKING: @replindabelcher has won the special election in HD49 for the Kentucky House, flipping the seat from red to blue. Congratulations, Linda! pic.twitter.com/cXyQr8PTMe
— DLCC (@TheDLCC) February 21, 2018
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Democrat Linda Belcher has edged out her Republican challenger, Rebecca Johnson, in today’s race to represent Kentucky’s House district 49, flipping the Republican seat to Democratic control by 68.45 percent to 31.55 percent, a 37 percent margin. The seat was formerly vacated by Republican Dan Johnson, who committed suicide.
The Republican loss is all the more impressive considering Trump won the 49th district by a staggering 49 points during the 2016 presidential election, 72 percent to 23 percent. In total, Democrats have swung the district by an incredible 86 percent margin.
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Tonight’s victory is only the latest in a wave of stunning Democratic success stories around the country. Thus far, Democrats have unseated Republicans in a vast number of what were thought to be unwinnable races. Aside from flipping New Jersey’s and winning Virginia’s gubernatorial races, Democrats also earned a historic victory electing Doug Jones to the Alabama Senate, the first time that a Democrat has won in that state in a quarter century.
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Democrats have also picked up a slew of seats in other races around the country.
Since the beginning of 2017, Democrats have flipped 17 seats in special elections. Republicans have only flipped three. In total, Democrats have flipped 37 seats from red to blue since Trump’s inauguration. Even in solidly red districts, such as those in Oklahoma, South Carolina, Kansas, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Florida, and now, Kentucky, Democrats are overperforming Trump’s numbers by double digits.
As the Trump administration and its Republican enablers in Congress continue their assault on the will of the American people – from healthcare to tax cuts for the rich to net neutrality to immigration – voters across the country are delivering a serious message to the White House, one race at a time.
If tonight’s Kentucky results are duplicated around the country in the upcoming midterm elections, the entire Republican Party will be on life support.
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