Last night’s special election in Ohio shows Republicans everywhere are on shaky ground with voters

Continuing trends of Democrats’ overperformance in special elections, voters in Ohio sent Donald Trump’s MAGA Republicans a strong message last night. In Ohio’s 6th district special election, Democratic candidate Michael Kripchak overperformed by about 20 points, a stunning achievement that made a nail-biter out of what was projected to be an easy win for Republican Michael Rulli. In a district that went for Trump by 29 points, and where Rulli had the financial advantage, voters were once again motivated to reject Trump’s MAGA Republican Party. 

Following Democrats’ continued overperformance in electoral contests, DNC spokesperson Maddy Mundy released the following statement: 

“Republicans may have been surprised by their underperformance in Ohio last night, but we weren’t. The best indicator of how voters are feeling heading into November is how they are actually voting at the ballot box, and for the past three years, in special elections across the country, voters have turned out to support Joe Biden and Democrats’ winning platform of safeguarding Americans’ freedoms against MAGA extremism. In 2024, voters continue to prove they understand the dangerous stakes of enabling Trump’s MAGA Republican Party. Come November, Americans across the country will turn out to reject the ultimate MAGA candidate: Donald Trump.” 

Democrats have won crucial special elections this year as they offer voters a positive and powerful alternative to Trump’s extreme abortion bans and hate-fueled vision for this country. In addition to last night’s performance in Ohio, Democrats have racked up victories early this year in: 

• Michigan: In April, Michigan voters preserved Democrats’ trifecta in the state after electing Democrats Mai Xiong and Peter Herzberg, who ran campaigns focused on pocketbook issues and reproductive rights. In Herzberg’s case, his support for reproductive freedoms was in contrast to Republican opposition to abortion without exceptions. 

• Alabama: In March, Democrat Marilyn Lands flipped a district that Trump won in an Alabama state House seat long held by Republicans. Lands centered her campaign on protecting access to reproductive care like abortion and in vitro fertilization in the wake of Trump and MAGA Republicans’ attacks. 
• New Hampshire: Democrats Jennifer Mandelbaum and Erik Johnson won two special elections for seats in the New Hampshire state House. 
• New York: In a hotly contested special election in New York’s Third Congressional District, Democrat Tom Suozzi flipped the Republican-held seat in part by attacking his opponent’s anti-abortion views.
• Pennsylvania: PA Dems cemented their House majority in a February special election when Democrat Jim Prokopiak won his battleground district in swingy Bucks County by championing reproductive rights. 

The results of Ohio 6th’s special election secured one of the strongest electoral swings towards Democrats this cycle, within a series of strong Democratic performances in special elections:

Washington Post: “Democrats’ surprisingly close Ohio election loss, in context”  

“High on that list is how Democrats have done in special elections. A case in point: Tuesday’s sleepy special in Ohio’s 6th District.

“While virtually nobody paid attention to the race, unheralded and underfunded Democrat Michael Kripchak was losing by less than 10 points in a district that Biden lost in 2020 by 29 points. For a time Tuesday night, it appeared as though it could have been even closer…

“Democrats have over-performed in special elections throughout the 2023-2024 election cycle, but this House race was one of the biggest swings to date.”

Newsweek: “Ohio Election Shock as Republican District Shifts 20 Points to Democrats”

The Hill: “GOP averts disaster in Ohio shocker: 5 takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries”

“Even though it didn’t result in a surprise upset, Democrats have reason to be heartened by the results. It’s the latest special election in which the party has performed well — the last example was Rep. Tom Suozzi’s (D-N.Y.) comfortable victory in the February special election to fill the remainder of ex-Rep. George Santos’s (R-N.Y.) term.”