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Democrats build on overperformance streak in Wisconsin, Georgia elections

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by Julia Mueller and Caroline Vakil - 04/07/26 11:24 PM ET

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by Julia Mueller and Caroline Vakil - 04/07/26 11:24 PM ET

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Democrats’ high hopes of a flip were dashed in Georgia’s special House race on Tuesday, but an overperformance in the red district — plus a landslide win for liberals in a Supreme Court race in Wisconsin — underscored the party’s enduring momentum as the high-stakes midterm cycle ramps up.

Backed by President Trump, Republican Clay Fuller won the Peach State runoff to replace former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), the longtime Trump ally who quit the House in January amid a feud with the president. But Democrats notched a notable overperformance in the red district, further fueling their winning streak ahead of the midterms.

Over in the Badger State, Democratic-backed judicial candidate Chris Taylor easily won an open seat on the state Supreme Court — overperforming GOP-backed candidate Maria Lazar by about 20 percentage points, with over 90 percent of the vote reported by Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) as of 11:23 p.m. EDT Tuesday, to give the liberal faction on the court a 5-2 edge.

“This victory is only the beginning of the fight ahead to win a Democratic trifecta in November and deliver real, lasting change for the working people of Wisconsin,” the Democratic Party of Wisconsin said in a statement.

In Georgia, the Republican win in the 14th Congressional District came as no surprise given its red leanings.

Fuller, a local district attorney and the president’s pick for the northwest Georgia House seat, emerged victorious with about 55 percent support in Tuesday’s runoff, after coming in second place behind Democrat Shawn Harris in a crowded March special election.

“The results tonight are clear: Northwest Georgia stands with MAGA and demands a fighter on Capitol Hill defending the America First agenda,” Fuller wrote in a social post after his victory.

Harris, a cattle farmer and retired general, lost his challenge against Greene by close to 30 points in 2024, and the district went for Trump by about 37 points that same year, according to The Downballot.

But Harris, who outraised Fuller by $5 million, pulled off a strong overperformance in Tuesday’s race, adding to Democrats’ off-year and special election win streak and buoying party hopes of a strong midterm season.

“This wasn’t the result we wanted, but the message is clear — people here are ready for leadership that puts them first,” Harris said in a Tuesday social media post.

In Chattooga County, for example, which backed Trump by more than 60 percentage points in 2024, Fuller was up 40 points in the county’s Tuesday results, according to VoteHub data. Across the district, Fuller was expected to finish with a swing of nearly 20 points from Trump’s 2024 margin of 37 points, per DDHQ.

Democrats saw the special election as another test of the party’s enthusiasm, as it has flipped a handful of GOP-held state legislative seats in recent months. The party also flipped two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission late last year — another sign of the base’s enthusiasm and broader frustration with Republicans over the state of the economy.

The party had a good night in the Badger State too, with Taylor winning the open seat on Wisconsin’s state Supreme Court to expand court’s liberal slant.

Taylor and Lazar were vying to replace retiring conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley on the high court, and the liberal candidate was expected to win the seat. DDHQ called the race for liberal candidate just 26 minutes after the polls closed.

But Tuesday’s results are particularly notable given a downturn in early voting compared to previous state Supreme Court elections and the lack of attention the contest received nationally.

In 2025, data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission, found that about 363,000 people voted early-in person. That’s a sharp decline from the under 150,000 Wisconsinites who did the same this year.

Regardless, Taylor led Lazar by about 60 percent to 40 percent, per DDHQ on Tuesday might. Some political observers have suggested that Taylor could handily win by between 16 and 20 points — an overperformance from last year’s closely-watched election when liberal Justice Susan Crawford beat conservative Brad Schimel by about 10 points.

Still, this year’s contest was a sleepier affair than the 2025 race, in large part because partisan control of the court’s majority was not on the line. Last year’s race drew attention and massive spending from Trump as well as Elon Musk in what was viewed as the first political test of the president’s second term as well as a gauge of