Republican fears grow as Democrats keep notching election victories
ahead of midterms
[April 09, 2026]
By SCOTT BAUER, JEFF AMY and JONATHAN J. COOPER
MADISON, Wisc. (AP) — The bluntest assessment of Republican failures
during this week's elections in Wisconsin came from one of their own.
“We got our butts kicked,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running
for governor.
He was referring to Democratic victories in campaigns for the Wisconsin
Supreme Court and the mayor's office in Waukesha, a conservative suburb
outside of Milwaukee. But some Republicans were also rattled by a
Georgia special election, where their candidate to replace Marjorie
Taylor Greene in Congress won by a much slimmer margin than the party
enjoyed in the past.
Taken together, the swings from red to blue added more data points to an
increasingly clear picture of Democratic momentum heading into the
November midterms, when control of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and state
governments around the country are up for grabs.
“In rural, urban, red, blue, Democrats have overperformed everywhere,”
said Jared Leopold, a Democratic consultant whose clients include Keisha
Lance Bottoms, a candidate for Georgia governor. “That is a significant
canary in the coal mine about what November of ’26 is going to look
like.”
Some Republicans insisted there was no need to panic, and their
fundraising remains stronger than Democrats. Stephen Lawson, a Georgia
strategist, said “the sky is not falling.”
But he also said his party is running behind where it has been in the
past, and Republicans need to be “looking at these results carefully.”
‘A red alarm for Republicans’
Special elections can be notoriously unreliable as political benchmarks,
but Democrats have consistently demonstrated surprising strength. They
flipped a Texas state Senate district. They won a Florida state House
seat in a district that includes President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago
resort in Palm Beach.
Then they gained ground on Tuesday in the race to replace Greene, who
resigned from Congress in January after a falling out with Trump.
Clay Fuller, the Republican candidate, prevailed by 12 points. Two years
ago, Greene won by 29 points and Trump carried the district by almost 37
points.
“That’s a red alarm for Republicans,” said Democratic strategist
Meredith Brasher.
Fuller defeated Shawn Harris, who plans to challenge him again in
November.
Jackie Harling, the district's Republican chairwoman, said she believed
that Greene’s resignation energized Democrats while her party is
suffering from “election fatigue.”
“Marjorie Taylor Greene was like a freight train that you couldn’t stop,
and when she pulled out, it gave Democrats hope and it gave them a shot
at winning something they believed was unwinnable,” Harling said.
‘Slightly bluer side of purple’
Georgia has key races this year, including an open contest for the
governor's office. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, is trying to defend his
seat as well.
There's reason to think that simmering discontent could boomerang back
on Republicans just two years after Trump harnessed voters' anger with
his comeback presidential campaign.
In November, Democrats defeated two Republican incumbents in statewide
races for seats on the Public Service Commission, which regulates
utilities. Rising electricity rates have been a fault line in recent
campaigns, especially as enormous data centers are built to power
artificial intelligence.
But Georgia Democratic Party Chair Charlie Bailey is trying to maintain
modest expectations.
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Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., a candidate for Wisconsin governor, speaks
during a news conference Wednesday, April 8, 2026, about what the
GOP needs to do in November after big defeats in the spring
election, outside of the state Capitol in Madison, Wis. (AP
Photo/Scott Bauer)
“We could cement ourselves, put ourselves, on the slightly bluer
side of purple,” he said. ”We’re not going to overnight turn into
Colorado.”
‘A very clear sign of momentum’
Wisconsin holds statewide elections for supreme court seats, and
liberals expanded their majority with a 20-point blowout victory on
Tuesday.
Democrats saw gains in red, blue and purple counties when compared
to another judicial race last year, which was also won by the
liberal candidate.
“This to me was a very clear sign of momentum and enthusiasm for
Democrats in the fall,” said Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman
Devin Remiker.
The state has its own open race for governor this year, and
Democrats are hoping to take control of the state legislature and
oust Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden.
“It’s time for us to put this thing in overdrive,” said Mandela
Barnes, a Democratic former lieutenant governor who is running for
governor.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, another Democratic
candidate for governor, said it’s clear that “people are really
upset with the Republican Party and their brand right now.”
“But that doesn’t mean that they’re automatically going to come over
to the Democrats,” Crowley said. “And that’s why we have to continue
to focus on the issues and speak to the values of all the voters
here in the state of Wisconsin.”
‘A lot of anxiety’
Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor in Wisconsin,
cautioned against reading too much into Tuesday’s results.
He said “every election is unique,” and he wasn’t making any changes
to his campaign. He said the key to winning will be to “paint that
clear contrast of how we are going to help everyday Wisconsinites.”
But Democrats seemed to be making inroads, including in Waukesha.
The city is located outside of Milwaukee in the Republican
stronghold of Waukesha County.
Democrat Alicia Halvensleben, president of the city’s Common
Council, defeated Republican Scott Allen, one of the most
conservative members of the state Assembly.
She said Trump came up “a lot” when she was campaigning, although
she thinks her victory came down to local issues and how the state
legislature wasn't addressing them.
“There’s so much uncertainty at the national level,” Halvensleben
said. “I think that level of uncertainty is causing people a lot of
anxiety, all the way down to the local level.”
___
Amy reported from Atlanta and Cooper reported from Phoenix.
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