Democrats lost 9 seats in special legislative elections under Trump while Republicans lost 0.
Democrat Alex Holladay won Tuesday’s special election for a state legislative seat in Arkansas, marking the ninth time since President Donald Trump took office last year that the party has failed to take control of a state legislative seat in a special election.
During that time, Republicans did not pick up a single state seat held by Democrats.
Holladay, a health care executive, defeated Republican businessman Bo Renshaw in the race to replace state Rep. Carlton Wing, a Republican who defeated Holladay by 2 points in 2024. Arkansas’s 70th state is north of Little Rock.
In a statement, Holladay said he learned a lot from his previous loss.
“Mostly, it taught us that North Little Rock and Sherwood needed a change,” he said. “Thousands of people told us that year they were sick and tired of one-party GOP rule in Arkansas … People are ready to hold our state leaders accountable, and that’s what this election was all about.”
Holladay’s victory came after Democrats, starting in 2025, flipped Republican-held seats in special elections in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Georgia and Texas. When adding changes to last fall’s elections in New Jersey and Virginia, Democrats flipped 27 Republican-held seats, while Republicans are still seeking their first flip, according to data compiled by Downballot.
Democrats say the trend bodes well for them ahead of the midterm elections, especially since they have outperformed expectations in foreign contests while Republican polling has been strong in presidential years. This is at least in part because the Democratic coalition is increasingly made up of high-profile, high-energy voters, while the Republicans have become a coalition of non-participants.
That shift has Republicans scrambling for answers on how to get their coalition to the polls without Trump on the ballot, a problem they’ve been trying to solve for years.
The election also came as polls showed voters expressing dismay or skepticism about Trump’s handling of the economy and foreign affairs.
Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said the commonality among the candidates who managed to clear Republican-held seats in this special election is that “they are not running on the same anti-Trump agenda.”
“They are looking for a way forward,” he said, adding, “The other thing is that the Republican Party is unpopular only with Democratic voters and blue states.”
The Republican State Leadership Committee, which works to select Republicans to vote down, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a consensus statement, Renshaw said Republican turnout was unusually lower than expected and he believes Republican voters will be stronger in November.
“I’d rather be us than them,” Williams said looking ahead to November, adding that the environment is shaping up to be good for Democrats. “We also know that we have to do the work, we are not successful in this election because we are always folding our hands and allowing the environment to play its part.”
