Democrats pick up state House seats in Oklahoma and New Hampshire districts Trump won by double digits

Good news for Democrats.
(Image credit: iStock.)

In special elections on Tuesday, Democrats in Oklahoma and New Hampshire won state legislative seats vacated by Republicans in districts President Trump won by double digits. In New Hampshire, Democratic small-business owner Charles St. Clair beat Republican Steve Whalley, 55 percent to 45 percent, for a state House seat that Trump won by 19 points last November. Democrats last held the seat in 2012, and Republicans had a 12-point party registration advantage. In Oklahoma, meanwhile, Democratic school teacher Jacob Rosecrants beat Republican Darin Chambers, 60 percent to 40 percent, in state House District 46, a district Trump won by 11 points and where Republicans have nearly 3,000 more registered voters.

Republicans still control the state legislatures in New Hampshire and Oklahoma, but Democrats celebrated the upsets, especially after falling just short in a heavily red Oklahoma district in May.

See more

Democrats narrowly lost hard-fought national House special elections this year in conservative districts in Montana, Georgia, and Kansas, but they have fared much better at the state level. Before Tuesday night's flips, the Democrats picked up a GOP state House and Senate seat in Oklahoma in July, and another House seat in New Hampshire and a New York State Assembly seat in May. Republicans have picked up just one state seat this year, in a Louisiana district that swung so hard to the right that no Democrats ran.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.