Democratic Women Just Won Two State-Level Elections in Trump Districts

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If the increase in activism—and the decrease in Donald Trump's favorable poll numbers—are any indication, the Republicans could face some serious challenges come 2018. In recent weeks a handful of special elections happening across the country seem like a litmus test for those midterm elections. It looks like not only will the GOP face major obstacles in the months to come—women could be the ones leading the charge.

On Tuesday evening two special elections were held in two long-time Republican districts: one in New Hampshire, the other in New York. In a race to fill an open seat in the New Hampshire House of Representatives, retired educator and Democratic candidate Edie DesMarais flipped a seat in the previously red district, one that went for Trump by a margin of 7 percentage points.

In New York, elementary school teacher Christine Pellegrino—a delegate for Bernie Sanders at the 2016 Democratic National Convention—became the first Democrat to win a seat in her deeply Republican Ninth Assembly District. And not only did Pellegrino accomplish a historic first, she managed to do so in a district that Trump won by 23 points in the 2016 election.

“This is a thunderbolt of resistance,” Pellegrino told Newsday. “This is for all the supporters and voters who understand a strong progressive agenda is the way forward in New York.”

Since last November, thousands of women have come together to protest the current administration and advocate for more progressive, inclusive policies—all the while drumming up support for candidates who can carry out their calls for change. As reported by The Cut, over 13,000 women have indicated their interest in running for office across all levels of government: local, state, and national. Before Tuesday's vote, the first special election of 2017—in the Delaware State Senate—was won by yet another Democratic woman, Stephanie Hansen. And as Carolyn Fiddler, a spokesperson for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, told Vox, a record number of Democrats running for the House of Delegates in Virginia are women and the Democratic candidate for a critical special election in Washington State is a female prosecutor.

“These women are part of a genuine upswell of women who have decided to run for office this year,” Fiddler said. “These activist women candidates have really stepped forward. And they’re winning too.”