Democrats are targeting Republican state Senate seats in special elections in Georgia and Iowa on Tuesday, in an effort to continue their success at flipping GOP seats this year in low-turnout elections.
The Georgia state Senate seat for the 21st District became vacant in May after President Donald Trump appointed former state Sen. Brandon Beach (R) to become the U.S. treasurer, and he resigned from office. Beach held the seat, representing the northern suburb of Atlanta, for more than a decade. He won reelection with more than 70% of the vote last year, The Hill reported.
Democrat Debra Shigley is looking to flip the seat as she races against six Republicans on the same ballot.
All candidates running for the seat are facing off on Tuesday, with the leading candidate required to secure a majority to win. If none of the candidates receive a majority, then the two who receive the most votes will advance to a runoff next month.
Meanwhile, Iowa’s state Senate seat for District 1 is the second this year that Democrats hope to flip. The seat became vacant in June after former state Sen. Rocky De Witt (R) died in office from cancer.
De Witt won the seat from a Democratic incumbent in 2022 by about 10 points.
Democrat Catelin Drey is facing off against Republican Christopher Prosch for the seat.
The Democratic National Committee sent 30,000 volunteers for get-out-the-vote efforts and to host text- and phone-banks with the state Democratic Party as they seek to end Republicans’ supermajority in the Iowa state Senate.
DNC Chairman Ken Martin noted the importance of focusing on these races.
āRebuilding the Democratic Party starts from the ground up, and weāve seen amazing victories in Iowa so far this year,ā Martin said. āWeāre all hands on deck to break the Iowa Republican supermajority and invest our resources in supporting candidates on the ground everywhere.āĀ
Democrats flipped state Senate seats in Iowa and Pennsylvania earlier this year, in districts that voted for Trump in last year’s election. In Iowa, Democrat Mike Zimmer won in January by about 3.5 points in a district that voted for Trump by more than 20 points, and in Pennsylvania, Democrat James Malone won in March by almost 1 point in a district that voted for Trump by double digits.
