Democrats win special elections in Georgia and Wisconsin
Democrats won a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat by 20 points, cementing a 5-2 liberal majority, while Republicans won Georgia's special House election by a narrower margin than expected.
Objective Facts
On April 7, 2026, Republicans won the special congressional election in Georgia but by a closer-than-anticipated margin, while Democrats expanded their Wisconsin Supreme Court majority. Democrat Chris Taylor romped to a 20 percentage point victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race while Republican Clayton Fuller defeated Democrat Shawn Harris by roughly 12 percentage points in Georgia's special House election. Taylor's win cements a 5-2 majority for liberals on the Wisconsin high court. Harris's loss represented the largest Democratic overperformance in a House special election since President Trump took office, with Harris outperforming the Democratic 2024 presidential results by 25 points. Wisconsin voters elected a new justice to expand the liberal-leaning majority as part of a larger trend of Democratic overperformance in elections since President Trump took office, with voters continuing to swing their support toward the Democratic Party in races held since the 2024 presidential election.
Left-Leaning Perspective
CNN's data guru Harry Enten explained that in every congressional special election, Democrats overperformed Kamala Harris, noting that Democratic candidates in elections since the 2024 presidential election, including the Wisconsin Supreme Court race and the Georgia special election, have exceeded Harris's vote margins. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin highlighted that 'Shawn Harris ran a fearless campaign in the reddest district in all of Georgia, delivering a double-digit overperformance.' The Democratic Party of Wisconsin described Taylor's victory as an 'indictment' of Trump, with party Chair Devin Remiker stating their court 'has repeatedly shown it is the last line of defense against the federal government's unconstitutional overreach' and secured a 'pro-freedom, pro-democracy majority.' Democrats argued the Georgia margin shift gave them reason to believe momentum is building in deep-red territory, with operative Jon Reinish telling the Washington Examiner this swing 'should strike fear in the heart of any Republican, because if you're seeing similar swings, even in deep red territory all over the country, that is a massive wave that could deliver a super majority to Democrats.' Left-leaning outlets highlighted that commanding Democratic victories in the New Jersey and Virginia governors' races and flipped municipal races across the country continue to show how unpopular Republican governance is with voters, with Trump facing record-low job approval of 39% amid an unpopular war in Iran and rising gas prices. Top Democrats, including those with eyes on potential 2028 runs, worked to boost Taylor's campaign, with former Ambassador Rahm Emanuel hitting Wisconsin while former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, and Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy signed fundraising emails for Taylor. Left-leaning coverage emphasized that national Republicans made the remarkable decision to actually spend money on the Georgia race despite it being deep-red territory, only to see Harris improve his performance. NBC News reported Taylor put abortion and voting rights at the forefront of her campaign and leaned into messaging that targeted President Donald Trump, which has helped turn out Democratic voters in non-presidential elections.
Right-Leaning Perspective
Fox News Digital reported that GOP candidate Clay Fuller, who won Tuesday's special congressional election in northwest Georgia, told the outlet President Trump was 'the key factor in us winning,' emphasizing 'He was the difference maker' and 'He was the key factor in us winning.' Fuller insisted that his victory over Harris in Georgia was testimony to Trump's staying power, telling supporters 'They couldn't beat Donald Trump and they never will' and 'I will be on Capitol Hill as a warrior to have his back each and every day.' Georgia Republican Party Chair Josh McKook called the win evidence that Republican dominance in Georgia remains intact, stating 'When Republicans are united, when we share a common purpose, and when we understand what's at stake, we win. We win every single time, and this is the blueprint for what we're going to need to do in November.' Fuller dismissed Democratic claims, telling Fox News Digital 'They lost. They've got to call me congressman, and they poured in millions of dollars, just lit millions of dollars on fire, and still got crushed,' while Georgia Republican Party Chair Josh McKoon argued 'Democrats threw everything they had at this race... They made this the Super Bowl and they lost.' Staggered by the Wisconsin loss, conservatives blamed either Republican Party Chair Brian Schimming or conservative Judge Maria Lazar's failed campaign. Conservative WISN-AM radio host Vicki McKenna complained that Lazar 'refused to be a PARTISAN' in what is ostensibly a nonpartisan race, saying 'She needed to make the case bluntly that she was the conservative antidote to the leftist disease on the court. She never did.' Republicans offered nuanced framing about the Georgia loss, with an anonymous GOP strategist telling the Washington Examiner that Fuller had a crowded 17-person primary while Harris was able to 'consolidate' support, and expected margins to go 'way back up in a general,' noting 'We certainly are not oblivious to the fact that we need to work hard to turn out our voters in the midterms.'
Deep Dive
The broader context shows that Democrats have continued to overperform since 2025 when they regularly improved on their margins compared to the 2024 presidential race, a pattern that extends across special elections, primaries, and local races. Trump faces record-low job approval averaging 39% amid an unpopular war in Iran, rising gas prices, and generally sour economic views, with Democratic enthusiasm driven partly by base voters dissatisfied with current leadership's response to Trump's policies and by Democrats being the party most likely to show up in lower-turnout elections. The Georgia victory gives Republicans much-needed breathing room in the House, where Fuller's win expands the GOP majority to 218-214 after he is sworn in, providing a critical two-vote cushion on party-line legislation given Speaker Mike Johnson's narrow margins. The impact of Wisconsin's liberal majority has already been felt in recent years, with the court overturning the state's legislative maps heavily favoring Republicans with new lines going into effect in 2024, with Democrats now setting sights on flipping at least one legislative chamber for the first time in 16 years, hoping lawsuits over Wisconsin's congressional map will come before the court, and eyeing action that could overturn conservative legislation including laws eliminating most collective bargaining rights for public workers. What remains unresolved is whether Harris will face Fuller again for a full term in November's general election, as both have qualified for the May 19 primary ballot, meaning Georgians could see a Fuller-Harris rematch in November in a race that also features an open governor's race and Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff's reelection campaign. For Wisconsin Republicans, the immediate question is what it will take for conservative candidates and their supporters to be competitive in spring court races going forward, given conservatives have lost five of six recent races and another conservative justice is retiring in 2027.