Republicans win but Democrats also claim victory with ballot box surge in Trump territory

RINGGOLD, GA — Republican congressional candidate Clay Fuller credited President Donald Trump in his victory speech after keeping a solidly red district in GOP hands and boosting Republicans’ razor-thin House majority.

"He was the difference maker," Fuller, who was backed by Trump, emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview following his victory Tuesday night. "He was the key factor in us winning."

Fuller defeated Democrat Shawn Harris in a special election to fill the empty U.S. House seat in Georgia's 14th Congressional District, in the northwest corner of the crucial southeastern battleground state. The seat was left vacant when MAGA firebrand Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stepped down at the beginning of January. Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a bitter falling out with Trump.

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The special election came as Republicans clung to a fragile 218–214 majority in the House. The GOP was under the gun to make sure the Democrats didn't pull off an upset in a district that Trump carried by a whopping 37 points in his 2024 presidential victory.

Fuller, who was a local district attorney and a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, who's served in the Air Force since 2009, called himself a "reinforcement" for House Speaker Mike Johnson and said his victory was "extremely crucial."

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But even in defeat, Democrats see cause for celebration.

Harris, a cattle farmer who spent four decades in the military and retired as an Army brigadier general, lost to Fuller by roughly 12 points, according to the latest election results. That's a significant improvement from the 29-point defeat he suffered to Greene in her 2024 re-election.

Democrats touted the results in Georgia's 14th Congressional District as their party's latest ballot box overperformance in the nearly 15 months since Trump returned to the White House and say they have the wind at their backs as they aim to win back congressional majorities from the Republicans in this autumn's midterm elections.

"In the deepest-red congressional district in Georgia — and despite more than $1.5 million in spending by Republicans to defend this Trump +37 seat — Democrat Shawn Harris notched a jaw-dropping more than 20-point overperformance in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s backyard," said Charlie Bailey, chair of the Democratic Party of Georgia, in a statement.

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And Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin highlighted that "Shawn Harris ran a fearless campaign in the reddest district in all of Georgia, delivering a double-digit overperformance."

Fuller pushed back on the Democrats' messaging.

"They lost. They've got to call me congressman, and they poured in millions of dollars, just lit millions of dollars on fire, and still got crushed," he argued, in his Fox News Digital interview.

And Georgia Republican Party Chair Josh McKoon said that "Democrats threw everything they had at this race... They made this the Super Bowl and they lost."

The runoff in Georgia wasn't the only major election on Tuesday night.

Liberals expanded their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, strengthening control in a key battleground state, in a ballot box showdown that drew limited national attention but had plenty riding on the results.

Wisconsin Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor, a former Democratic state representative, defeated Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar, a conservative. Taylor will succeed a retiring conservative justice and with the victory, liberals will expand their majority on the state Supreme Court to 5-2.

While officially a non-partisan contest, state Supreme Court elections in Wisconsin have become extremely partisan in recent election cycles.

Taylor ended up topping Lazar by roughly 20 points, a larger victory than expected. And national Democrats once again were quick to showcase the overperformance.

"Wisconsin voters showed up and sent another big message to Republicans, securing a liberal majority until 2030!" the DNC's Martin said in a social media post.

It's hard to deny that Democrats are on a roll in electoral showdowns since the start of Trump's second term.

The flipping of two GOP-controlled state Senate seats in Iowa last year denied Republicans their super majority in the chamber. Democrats also scored larger than expected victories in last November's gubernatorial elections in blue-leaning Virginia and New Jersey, and over performed in last December's special congressional election in a red-leaning district in Tennessee.

Earlier this year, plenty of Republicans were calling their party's double-digit shellacking in a state Senate election in a ruby red district in Texas in an early February special election a "wake-up call" for the party.

And in special elections two weeks ago, Democrats in Florida flipped a state Senate seat and a state House district that includes Mar-a-Lago, Trump's home turf in Palm Beach.

Partially fueling the Democrats' ballot box performances is their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation.

Meanwhile, Republicans are battling stiff political headwinds as the party in power in the nation's capital traditionally loses seats in the midterms, and a rough political climate fueled by economic concerns, an unpopular war with Iran, and Trump's underwater approval ratings.

"Enthusiasm for Democrats is growing everywhere. We’re closing the gap and Republicans are absolutely terrified," Martin claimed.

But Republicans say that Democrats are overemphasizing their ballot box performances, especially their special election successes in what are often low-turnout contests.

"A low-turnout state House special election is a snapshot of local quirks, candidate dynamics, and turnout math — not some grand verdict," RNC senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said after last month's special election in Palm Beach, Florida.

And veteran Republican strategist and communicator Jesse Hunt told Fox News Digital that "historically, special elections have been a poor barometer for what will occur during regularly scheduled midterm or presidential elections. Specials have unique dynamics that don’t play as much of a factor when the broader electorate feels the muscle memory of showing up to vote in November."