Republicans are assessing their strategy for the 2026 midterms after significant electoral defeats in Wisconsin and a weaker-than-expected win in a Georgia special election. Democrats won a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat by 20 points, while the GOP margin in a Georgia congressional race shrank from 29 to 12 points. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) admitted, "We got our butts kicked," as Democrats claim clear momentum ahead of the fall elections.
Democratic victories in Wisconsin
- ▪Liberals expanded their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court with a 20-percentage-point victory on April 7, 2026
- ▪In Waukesha, Wisconsin, Democrat Alicia Halvensleben defeated Republican Scott Allen, one of the most conservative members of the state Assembly, for mayor
- ▪Democrats won campaigns for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the mayor's office in Waukesha, a conservative suburb of Milwaukee
Georgia special election results
- ▪Republican Clay Fuller won the special election for Georgia's 14th Congressional District, which was previously held by Marjorie Taylor Greene
- ▪Clay Fuller won the Georgia special election by a margin of 12 percentage points
Republican electoral performance decline
- ▪Two years prior to the 2026 special election, Marjorie Taylor Greene won Georgia's 14th Congressional District by 29 percentage points
- ▪Democratic strategist Meredith Brasher called the Georgia special election result "a red alarm for Republicans."
- ▪In a previous election, Donald Trump carried Georgia's 14th Congressional District by almost 37 percentage points
Democratic momentum before 2026
- ▪Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Devin Remiker described the state's election results as "a very clear sign of momentum and enthusiasm for Democrats in the fall."
- ▪Prior to the Wisconsin and Georgia elections, Democrats flipped a Texas state Senate district and won a Florida state House seat near Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort
- ▪In November 2025, Democrats defeated two Republican incumbents for seats on Georgia's Public Service Commission
Republican party strategy response
- ▪Despite recent losses, Republican fundraising remains stronger than that of the Democrats
- ▪U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a Republican running for governor of Wisconsin, stated "We got our butts kicked" in response to the election results
- ▪Tom Tiffany said he was not making any changes to his campaign and that the key to winning is to "paint that clear contrast."
Rising voter anxiety
- ▪Waukesha's mayor-elect, Alicia Halvensleben, said national-level uncertainty is causing "a lot of anxiety" for voters at the local level
- ▪Jackie Harling, a Republican district chairwoman in Georgia, suggested her party is suffering from "election fatigue."
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