U.S. President Donald Trump makes a sports announcement at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 5, 2025.
Democrats notched two major special election wins on Tuesday night, and observers on both sides of the aisle are suggesting the races could be a bellwether for what the GOP can expect in the 2026 midterms.
In Miami, Florida, Democrat Eileen Higgins won the city's mayoral race, marking the first time in nearly 30 years a Democrat has held the position. Republican businessman Emilio González, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, lost the race by nearly 20 points.
MAGA influencer Laura Loomer, who has been described as Trump's unofficial "loyalty enforcer," wrote on her official X account that Higgins' victory meant that "a bright red city in a bright red state just went blue."
"President Trump’s Presidential library will now be constructed under the control of a rabidly anti-Trump Democrat who supports soft on crime policies," Loomer wrote. "Midterms will be a bloodbath."
"If a Republican had been elected Mayor of NYC under a Biden administration it would have been (rightly) viewed as an earthquake," TV producer Tom Brennan wrote. "Things are VERY bad for the Republicans under Trump."
"Dear Republicans. Stop fighting each other and realize the commies are rapidly gaining ground," tweeted Blake McClellan, who is the chairman of the Forsyth County, Georgia Republican Party.
Georgia also saw a Democratic victory in a red state House of Representatives district. CNN reported that Democrat Eric Gisler flipped Georgia's 121st House District from red to blue, despite Trump winning the district last year by double digits. Vote Hub analyst Zachary Donnini wrote on X that Gisler's victory came about despite Republicans carving up the state's legislative districts to give the GOP an advantage.
“A Republican gerrymander just backfired in Georgia,” Donnini wrote. “Despite splitting Athens into three conservative-leaning districts, Democrats flipped Trump+12 GA HD-121 — turning one of those engineered red seats blue tonight.”
Columnists were already sounding alarms on GOP hyper-aggressive gerrymandering that split what they through were dedicated Republican voters into blue districts to dilute Democratic votes. The wake-up call first sounded off following nationwide victories by Democrats in November.
“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,” said Columnist Mary Ellen Klas. “Desperate not to lose the House in the midterms, the president sought to rig the game. He pressured legislatures in red states to create new Republican-leaning districts, and lawmakers duly redrew their maps. 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.”