In a speech before cheering supporters, Democrat Taylor Rehmet dedicated his victory “to everyday working people.”

Democrats scored a major upset on Saturday, as machinist union leader Taylor Rehmet easily defeated Republican opponent Leigh Wambsganss in a state senate special election held in a deep-red district that Donald Trump carried by 17 percentage points in 2024.

With nearly all votes counted, Rehmet holds a 14-point lead in Texas’ Senate District 9, which covers a large portion of Tarrant County.

Republican opponent Wambsganss conceded defeat in the race but vowed to win an upcoming rematch in November.

“The dynamics of a special election are fundamentally different from a November general election,” Wambsganss said. “I believe the voters of Senate District 9 and Tarrant County Republicans will answer the call in November.”

  • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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    6 hours ago

    and UTAH’S GOV signed a bill that he can EXPAND the supreme court in UTAH as of recently, for the fear of DEM wins in the state.

      • Insekticus@aussie.zone
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        3 hours ago

        Sounds like it means he can put a bunch of his friends onto the that state’s supreme court, so any elections held for those positions, while in Dems control (which would flip lots of seats after their terms are up), will be ineffective against the horde of Republicunts he puts into power until the Dems are the bad guys again

  • Horsey@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    While Fort Worth is a red city, it’s still a major city in the Dallas area. Fort Worth is not full of rednecks who work the fields

  • Formfiller@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    Hopefully nobody is dumb enough to vote a republican in for 100 years. What is his stance on Israel?

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      7 hours ago

      He’s not on AIPAC tracker yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was. Democrats are just Israeli and billionaire shills. They don’t give a shit about the common man.

  • FisherOfSaints@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    Republican Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick reacted somberly to the news of Rehmet’s victory, warning in a social media post that the result was “a wake-up call for Republicans across Texas.”

    “Our voters cannot take anything for granted,” Patrick emphasized.

    Totally forgotten who works for whom in this arrangement. That’s how deep the fascism is baked in.

    • jj4211@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      Though a claim that the right voters just didn’t show up would help if magically the GOP carried the district in just 10 months when there is almost nothing free and fair that one could imagine causing such a rematch to change to the tune of a 14 point swing …

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    I mean, fingers crossed.

    Republicans have a long and storied history of fighting unfairly. And this will definitely put the fear of God in them

  • thlibos@thelemmy.club
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    15 hours ago

    I am honestly afraid the Repubs will start behaving themselves until after Nov…maybe even be able to somewhat reign in their Orange monkey-god and then wait to begin again with the fascism with even more vigor after the midterms. I live in a purple state with a Democratic governor with an election this year. I am terrified that my state is going to elect a Trump lickspittle this Nov.

    • dreamkeeper@literature.cafe
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      3 hours ago

      How are they going to “behave themselves” this year? They can’t run away from Trump without losing most of their cult base. I don’t know what state you’re from and I’d still put money on Dems winning

  • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works
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    20 hours ago

    Republican opponent Wambsganss conceded defeat in the race but vowed to win an upcoming rematch in November.

    Rematch??

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      18 hours ago

      This was a special election to fill a spot. The prior person (Kelly Hancock) quit to become state comptroller. These two will be running in the fall, though I wonder if the groups (including some with ties to white nationalism) that spent $2.5m on her will do so again in the fall. He raised $380k, mostly small donors.

      Fun fact - Texas senate doesn’t meet this year, so he might not have a ton to do before the next election, but he’ll run as an incumbent, will be getting ready for next year’s session, and it’s also a nice pants-shitting moment for the Tarrant county Republican Party which is already in the midst of a party purity jihad.

      (Seriously, they’re suing and being sued by other republicans about being removed from republican primaries, as well as suing to have democrats removed from Democrat primaries)

      • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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        6 hours ago

        haha, republicans sure are karens, they do love to sue. in any case thier own voter suppression methods is probably hurting THE GOP more than the dems(which incudes gerrymandering other ways of excluding dems from running fairly)_, since they dont have real power in the state to begin with(the dems).

      • vortic@lemmy.world
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        16 hours ago

        The hell? The Texas senate only meets for 140 days in odd years? How do they get anything done?

        • Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
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          6 hours ago

          they do it to avoid questioning from thier constituents in case things goes bad, like the texas freeze or the power grid failing and to prevent Dems from getting things done.

        • TryingSomethingNew@sopuli.xyz
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          15 hours ago

          It’s even crazier than that. If I remember right, every single law is a change to the Texas constitution.

          There is also a saying that we would be better off if it were held for two days every 140 years. And there have been some bills that have died (DMCA, IIRC) because they couldn’t get through committee in time, so the “have to be passed this year” had to wait 2 more years.

          But they can and will call “special session” for the sorriest of reasons.

      • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.ca
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        19 hours ago

        It is a game for people who can spend over $2M on a campaign like this and probably do it again a few months later.

          • HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works
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            17 hours ago

            As TryingSomethingNew said above he might jusy get lucky, because without the Texas Senate sitting before Nov the GOP will have little cannon fodder to blast him with.

            One would almost wish there were more upcoming elections like this.

  • DarkSideOfTheMoon@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    This gives me hope. So far the runoff are seeing a huge blue shift. I just hope people go out and vote and don’t be purist saying the candidate is not perfect. We are in this mess because many refused to vote

    • tal@lemmy.today
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      19 hours ago

      https://biblerepository.com/bible-verses-about-earthquakes-2/

      Yes, though based on the list there sounds like the most-dramatic ones there are in Revelation, which is a prophetic vision of the future, rather than about the past.

      Revelation 6:12-17

      I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.  The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.

      Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.  They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

      • wewbull@feddit.uk
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        19 hours ago

        A bunch of those are a huge stretch, but I’ll take the revaluations one.