Add Democrats’ win in Kentucky to the growing evidence that they will have a good 2018

[SirLinksALot]

 
FROM Washington Post ^ | 02/22/2018 | by Amber Phillips

URL: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/02/21/add-democrats-win-in-kentucky-to-the-growing-evidence-that-they-will-have-a-good-2018/?utm_term=.475ee0035bc3


The clearest way to get a picture of how well Democrats are doing in 2018 is to go down the list of recent special state legislative elections:

* A Florida state legislative district that Donald Trump won by five points, according to data from liberal political blog Daily Kos, is now in the hands of Democrats, who won it by eight points this month.

* In January, Democrats flipped a Wisconsin state legislative district that Trump won by 20 points.

* A few weeks later, Democrats flipped a Missouri state legislative district that Trump won by nearly 30 points, for a swing of 31 points in one district in a little more than a year.

* And Tuesday night brought, perhaps, the most impressive win of all for Democrats: A Kentucky state legislative district that Trump won by nearly 50 points in November voted for a Democrat over a Republican, an extraordinary 86-point swing. Democrat Linda Belcher won back her old seat after her opponent committed suicide days after being accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at the church he ran.

His wife announced a day after his death that she would run for his seat, but she failed to show up to candidate forums and is tied to some of the legal controversies in which her late husband was enmeshed.

The fact that a Democrat won a conservative Kentucky seat isn't necessarily a surprise. It comes amid a bona fide trend of Democrats winning state legislative elections deep in Republican territory this election cycle.

(Excerpt) Read more at  above link....

[txradioguy]

This was a widow v. widow special election to fill the remainder of the term for a Kentucky house member (Dan Johnson) from this area that committed suicide a couple months back...the day after an article came out accusing him of sexual molestation of a 17 year old girl.

Belcher took her husband's seat in 2008 after he died in a car crash.

There will more than likely be a rematch this fall in the mid terms.

[the_doc]

Well, let's re-evaluate the Dems' prospects after Trump hits them with about 14,000 federal prosecutions.

[txradioguy]

Well, let's re-evaluate the Dems' prospects after Trump hits them with about 14,000 federal prosecutions.

All politics are local.  This is small town Shepherdsville/Bullitt County Kentucky.

What Trump does on a national level won't affect what happens there one bit either way.

[the_doc]

All politics are local.  This is small town Shepherdsville/Bullitt County Kentucky.

What Trump does on a national level won't affect what happens there one bit either way.

You might be right, but I think a lot of ignorant but more-or-less patriotic Democrats in small towns are finally going to wake up to the fact that their beloved Democratic Party as a whole has become the party of TREASON.  I predict we will have old-fashioned military hangings in 2018.  If my forecast concerning the military tribunals (anticipated in 2018?) is correct, then the entire Democratic Party could be ruined forever before this coming November.

[txradioguy]

You might be right, but I think a lot of ignorant but more-or-less patriotic Democrats in small towns are finally going to wake up to the fact that their beloved Democratic Party as a whole has become the party of TREASON.  I predict we will have old-fashioned military hangings in 2018.  If my forecast concerning the military tribunals (anticipated in 2018?) is correct, then the entire Democratic Party could be ruined forever before this coming November.

We'll see.  The same two candidates will more than likely face off again in November.

[Suppressed]

You might be right, but I think a lot of ignorant but more-or-less patriotic Democrats in small towns are finally going to wake up to the fact that their beloved Democratic Party as a whole has become the party of TREASON.  I predict we will have old-fashioned military hangings in 2018.  If my forecast concerning the military tribunals (anticipated in 2018?) is correct, then the entire Democratic Party could be ruined forever before this coming November.

@the_doc

If I were a betting man . . . one of us would be coughing up dough on December 31.

[edpc]

Dems can get excited about these local off brand elections if they want.  Truth is, people are too busy in their day to day lives to constantly show up for special election votes.  When I lived in OH, they tried to pass a school district levy increase during the normal election cycle.  It got crushed by a 2-1 margin.  They held a special election on it a few months later and it was narrowly defeated.  They held the election a third time two months after that and it finally passed by 100 votes.

[the_doc]

@the_doc

If I were a betting man . . . one of us would be coughing up dough on December 31.

Ha, I'm glad that we can agree on that! 

[Frank Cannon]

LOL. Well if the GOP fills all their slots with the widows of child molesters it might be a problem in November.

From where I see, all of these seats that the GOP lost so far were because their candidates were stinko. Legacies running on names and no substance. Cracked pot people with seedy backgrounds. Mumble mouth idiots who could barely formulate a thought.

[jmyrlefuller]

Also note that these special elections can just as quickly flip back come the next election.

2011: Chris Lee resigns after his Craigslist dalliances are exposed. Jane Corwin, unpopular phone book heiress who sent a staffer to stage an assault and frame a third-party gadfly, loses to Democrat Kathy Hochul.

2012: Hochul promptly loses her seat to Chris Collins, who has held the seat ever since.

[Free Vulcan]

Dems can get excited about these local off brand elections if they want.  Truth is, people are too busy in their day to day lives to constantly show up for special election votes.  When I lived in OH, they tried to pass a school district levy increase during the normal election cycle.  It got crushed by a 2-1 margin.  They held a special election on it a few months later and it was narrowly defeated.  They held the election a third time two months after that and it finally passed by 100 votes.

And that is the key point. It's easy to bum rush your people there when the sum total votes is 5K. Doing that in a general is a whole different game.

Uber leftists are highly motivated right now. Problem is they are maybe 10% of the vote, not enough to win a general. Most of their victorious candidates are going to have to hold on to that seat in a little over 8 months, plus all the others the Dems have to defend with little money in their coffers.

Reps tend to dominate turnout in governor election cycles. Unless they royally screw up, Dems still have a long hill to climb.

[Formerly Once-Ler]

LOL. Well if the GOP fills all their slots with the widows of child molesters it might be a problem in November.

From where I see, all of these seats that the GOP lost so far were because their candidates were stinko. Legacies running on names and no substance. Cracked pot people with seedy backgrounds. Mumble mouth idiots who could barely formulate a thought.

Now the GOP truly is the Party of Trump.