Trump can’t distance himself from shocking GOP loss in deep red district

Democrats pulled off a major upset when, on Saturday, January 31, their nominee, Taylor Rehmet, enjoyed a 14 percent victory in a special election for a Texas State Senate seat in the Ft. Worth suburbs. Donald Trump carried that district by 17 percent in the 2024 presidential election, but his endorsement couldn't save the GOP nominee, Leigh Wambsganss, from a double-digit loss.

Trump is trying to distance himself from the outcome of that race. But MS NOW's Steve Benen, in a February 2 column, argues that Trump owns the race's outcome whether he admits it or not.

"While 2025 was ostensibly an off-year for elections," Benen explains, "it proved to be filled with fascinating and important contests, marked by one unmistakable trend: Democratic candidates consistently overperformed, racking up several special election victories that left Republicans feeling anxious about their electoral prospects. The question hanging overhead was whether the trend would continue in 2026. That answer is already coming into focus."

The "Rachel Maddow Show" producer continues, "Last week, Democrats won lopsided victories in two special elections in Minnesota, restoring the State House to an even partisan split…. There was far greater interest, however, in a state Senate special election in the suburbs of Ft. Worth, Texas."

Benen notes that "on paper," Rehmet's victory was "wholly implausible."

"The outcome was obviously a difficult one for Wambsganss, the chief communications officer for Patriot Mobile, which describes itself as 'America's only Christian conservative wireless provider," Benen writes. "But the results were also especially brutal for Donald Trump — though he was eager to pretend otherwise…. On midday Sunday, Trump said of the race, 'Somebody ran where?,' adding, 'I'm not involved with that.'"

Benen adds, "He was most definitely involved with that. Republican incumbents and candidates counting on the president's support to make a difference should probably keep this in mind through the coming months."