Politics
Democrats Score Major Wins in Red States
By Jake Beardslee · December 10, 2025
Democrats scored two significant special-election victories on Tuesday night, prompting political observers from both parties to warn that the results may foreshadow deeper problems for Republicans heading into the 2026 midterms.
In Miami, Democrat Eileen Higgins won the mayoral race, becoming the first Democrat to hold the office in nearly three decades. Her opponent, Republican businessman Emilio González — who received an endorsement from President Donald Trump — was defeated by almost 20 points.
Television producer Tom Brennan argued the results highlight deeper vulnerabilities for Republicans. “If a Republican had been elected Mayor of NYC under a Biden administration it would have been (rightly) viewed as an earthquake,” he wrote on X. “Things are VERY bad for the Republicans under Trump.”
Blake McClellan, chairman of the Forsyth County, Georgia Republican Party, echoed the alarm, posting: “Dear Republicans. Stop fighting each other and realize the commies are rapidly gaining ground.”
Georgia delivered another setback for the GOP when Democrat Eric Gisler flipped the 121st House District — a seat Trump carried by double digits last year. According to CNN, Gisler won despite a redistricting overhaul designed to give Republicans a legislative edge. Vote Hub analyst Zachary Donnini wrote that “a Republican gerrymander just backfired in Georgia,” noting that “Despite splitting Athens into three conservative-leaning districts, Democrats flipped Trump+12 GA HD-121 — turning one of those engineered red seats blue tonight.”
The results add to mounting warnings about the GOP’s mid-decade redistricting strategy. In the wake of widespread Democratic gains in November, columnist Mary Ellen Klas argued that Republicans overreached by trying to secure new partisan advantages. “After widespread defeats in last week’s off-year elections, Republicans should realize they made a bad bet by following President Donald Trump’s lead on mid-decade redistricting,” Klas wrote. She explained that Trump pushed legislatures in red states to create additional Republican-leaning seats in an effort to fortify the House majority. “That weakened some safe red seats, but the GOP assumed that it would hurt Democrats more. [The November] results demonstrate the folly of Trump’s gamble.”