Republicans scored a victory in a Wisconsin special election and appear to be headed for a win in another special election in California on Tuesday.
Republican state Sen. Tom Tiffany won the special election in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, defeating Democrat Tricia Zunker, a member of the Wassau School Board and justice on the Ho-Chunk Nation Supreme Court, by a 58-42 margin with 83% of the vote in.
Tiffany drew support from President Trump in the race.
He ran to replace Rep. Sean Duffy, who left after winning his 2018 race by 22 points after his wife suffered complications in pregnancy.
Tiffany will be on the ballot again in November to defend the seat.
Republicans on track in California:
Republican Navy veteran Mike Garcia leads Democratic California state Sen. Christy Smith by nearly 12% in California’s 25th Congressional District with many mail-in ballots still to be counted.
The race was held to replace Rep. Katie Hill, who resigned last year after admitting to an affair with a campaign aide. The winner will also have to run again in November.
Garcia held a double-digit lead with about 75% of the vote in. If he wins, he would become the first Republican to flip a Democratic seat in the state since 1998.
With just seven polling places in the district as a result of the coronavirus, most of the votes were submitted by mail.
November preview?
Though Republicans were (likely) able to flip the California seat, Trump stands no chance of winning the state in November.
The Wisconsin race was also held in a district he carried by 20 points. But Wisconsin figures to be a key swing state in 2020, just as it was in 2016.
A new Marquette poll showed a tight race between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, with the Democrat holding a narrow 46-43 lead.
Biden has a lead among both young and old voters, however. Biden leads Trump 51-41 among voters under 30 and leads 55-37 among voters over 60.
