While some Republicans have argued that small special election results are being overblown, others privately acknowledge that the signals are troubling for their party. Since the start of 2025, Democrats have used special elections to flip a dozen state legislative seats, while Republicans have not flipped one. But this district and Florida in general represent the kind of places where Democrats have lost ground in the past decade. “It’s not a secret that Republicans don’t tend to do as well in off-year elections.”Why do Democrats do better in special elections? Voter participation in special elections is always relatively low.

Source: New Zealand Herald March 26, 2026 12:12 UTC