On Saturday January 14th, Democratic candidate Taylor Rehmet defeated Trump-backed candidate Leigh Wambsganns in a special election for the 9th District in the Fort Worth area. The victory was determined in a 14 point lead, which was a 31 point swing towards the Democrats in comparison to the 2024 election results swinging hard towards President Trump. Trump himself had made a push for Wambsganns, posting support on social media in the last two days of the race. However, when reporters from Florida asked Trump for his reaction to the results, Trump shrugged them off, saying, “I’m not involved in it. That’s a local Texas race.”

“It’s too bad, what can I say? I have nothing to do with it,” Trump added.

Democrats flipped more than 20 state legislative seats in special or scheduled elections last year. In December, they won a Georgia district that voted for Trump by a 12 point margin.

Rehmet’s victory, according to interviews on Sunday, January 15th with campaign supporters and workers, is explained by a variety of factors, one of which being the combination of Latino and suburban backlash to the fringe conservative policies that were in Tarrant County and in Washington. Wambsganns embraced those controversial policies on the campaign trail, while Rehmet, using his background as a union member, won over working class voters, independents, and some moderate Republicans with his campaign. Knowing that he couldn’t match Wambsganns in campaign funding, Rehmet adopted a strategy of using volunteers to go and visit Texans in their homes. If a voter had a question the volunteer did not have an answer for, Rehmet’s team would find the answer, evening having the volunteer call Rehmet himself to answer the voters question. 

Another instrumental part to Rehmet’s victory was Hispanic backing, who accounted for more than one in five eligible voters in the district. One analyst found that Rehmet outperformed Kamala Harris by more than 50 points in the largely Hispanic areas of Fort Worth. These shifts occurred around the time voters witnessed immigration agents kill two Americans while carrying out deportations. These voters, who voted for Rehmet, also believed that Trump would help their financial standing more than what he has done in his first term. Other Democrats have also focused on the issues of affordability during inflation, which helped them overperform in elections since the start of Trump’s second administration.

This result is a massive upset and Republicans aren’t ignoring the results. Texas Lt.Gov.Dan Patrick called the defeat “a wake-up call for Republicans across Texas. Our voters cannot take anything for granted”. Florida Gov. Ron Desantis added on X that “Special elections are quirky and not necessarily projectable. That said, a swing of this magnitude is not something that can be dismissed.”

Rehmet will likely face Wembganns again in November for the regularly scheduled election for the Senate Seat, but he has expressed confidence in his campaign.

“I’ve won twice already, I will be winning a third time.” he said.