Democrats Flip A Wisconsin Senate Seat Held By GOP Since 2000

Democrats secured a significant win over the Republicans in their stronghold in Wisconsin in a special election to the Senate yesterday (17 January).

Patty Schachtner scored a nine-point victory in the election for the state Senate seat, flipping a district that had been held by the Grand Old Party since 2000. Notably, President Donald Trump had won the state with a 17-point margin in the 2016 presidential election.

Ahead of the midterm elections due to be held in November this year, this is a dramatic swing from red to blue, but still in line with the performance that Democrats have been putting up in special elections at the state, federal and local levels ever since Trump took office.

This development got the Republicans in the state worried, with Governor Scott Walker referring to it as a “wake up call”.

If Democrats can replicate this performance, it may start sounding off alarm bells for the Republicans, who, to be fair, still have considerable time to turn the tide around.