Democrats flip deep-red Missouri state House seat, signal problems for GOP

close

Video

Shifting tide? Democrats flip a deep-red Missouri house seat

Democrat Mike Revis won a February 6 special election in Missouri in a deep-red district. Is this Democratic victory part of a shifting tide for Republicans?

Democrats flipped a Missouri House seat in Tuesday’s special election in a district that President Trump won by 28 points in 2016, signaling problems for the GOP ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

Democrat Mike Revis won the election with nearly 52 percent of the vote while Republican David Linton received 48 percent. Tuesday’s election marks a 31-point swing to Democrats in the district compared to the 2016 presidential election.

“Representative-elect Mike Revis’s victory tonight will undoubtedly send another shockwave through the GOP as we continue to run the best candidates focused on addressing local issues and improving their neighbors’ quality of life,” Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Executive Director Jessica Post said in a statement.

“The DLCC continues to be impressed by our dedicated and talented slate of candidates, who have stepped up to run in these precedent-setting special elections."

Revis, a 27-year-old procurement manager, ran on a platform as a centrist Democrat with particular focus on education, access to health care and support for the labor community, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

State Rep. Peter Merideth, D-St. Louis, told the newspaper that Revis’ win was “enormous” and made possible only due to “a lot of grass-roots support and a hardworking, authentic moderate candidate from his community.”

The election result might signal the changing tide for the GOP that is heading into the midterm elections this year against a highly-mobilized Democratic opposition united against the president.

In December, embattled Republican Roy Moore lost a deep-red Senate seat in Alabama to Democrat Doug Jones, making him the first Democrat in a decade to win any statewide office in the state.

Last month, Democrat Patty Schachtner flipped a state Senate seat in Wisconsin that had been held by Republicans since the start of the century in a district that Trump carried by 17 points in the presidential election.

Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker called the results a “wake up call” for the party.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said the party should take interest in why it lost the election. “Typically, we’ve held this seat, and we lost this seat last night. So, yeah, I think we should pay attention to it,” Ryan told reporters last month, The New York Times reported.

But as problems continue to mount for the Republicans, in three other special elections in Missouri on Tuesday, Republicans held their seats – continuing the GOP’s supermajority in the state House.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.