In various legislative and congressional elections last night, Democratic candidates dominated in several states.
Wisconsin voted in a primary for an open seat on their Supreme Court, with high policy stakes on the line. The general election in April for the swing state will determine abortion rights, gerrymandered district maps, and a range of voting rights issues in a battleground state.
Janet Protasiewicz (pro-tuh-SAY-witz), a liberal from the Milwaukee suburbs, and Daniel Kelly, a former Supreme Court justice who lost his seat in a 2020 election, both advanced.
In Virginia, Jennifer McClellan (D) will serve as Virginia’s first Black congresswoman, filling a seat vacated by Don McEachin (D), who died in November of cancer. The special election for Virginia’s Fourth Congressional District will bring to Washington a touted rising star who defeated Leon Benjamin, a Republican Navy veteran and local pastor. McClellan won with 74% of the vote.
New Hampshire settled a November tie in a state election, with Democrat Chuck Grassie (NOT Grassley) beating the Republican challenger who had originally been declared the winner by one vote. When a recount resulted in a 970-970 tie, a special election for the seat was set.
Grassie received 568 votes to Walker’s 449 in Tuesday’s revote for the Strafford County District 8 seat representing Rochester’s Ward 4. The two made it clear the result would not permanently damage a long-standing friendship.
In Kentucky, a Louisville councilwoman will be heading to Frankfort, winning an election on Tuesday for the vacant District 19 seat in the Kentucky Senate. A fellow Democrat won a congressional seat, leaving Cassie Chambers Armstrong a winner for the vacant state seat with 77% of the vote.
