Here’s a recap of the most interesting special elections from Tuesday. You can check out the results of all Democrat vs. Republican races with our Big Board here.
CA-AD-01: Republican Megan Dahle defeated Democrat Elizabeth Betancourt 58-42 to win this deep red seat in California's rural far north. Betancourt was able to slightly improve on both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s margins here, following on her unusually solid showing for a Democrat in the first round of voting.
MO-HD-99: Democrats got their second special election flip of the year after Trish Gunby defeated Republican Lee Ann Pitman 54-46. This district, located in the suburbs of St. Louis, has been shifting leftward in recent years. Mitt Romney won it 55-43 but Donald Trump prevailed just 49-44.
NJ-SD-01: Republicans, meanwhile, earned their fifth special election flip of the year, as Mike Testa unseated Democratic Sen. Bob Andrzejczak 53-47 to win this South Jersey seat. This district had moved from 53-46 Obama to 53-44 Trump, and Andrezejczak attempted to position himself as a conservative Democrat by declining to rule out voting for Trump in 2020.
TX-HD-28: The race to replace former Rep. John Zerwas in this suburban Houston district is heading to a runoff. Eliz Markowitz, the lone Democrat in the race, and Republican Gary Gates will be the participants in the runoff, after taking 39% and 28%, respectively. Five other Republicans combined to take the remaining 33% percent. Overall, Republican candidates outpaced the Democrat 61-39. The runoff date has not been determined, but will be chosen by Gov. Greg Abbott.
In addition, two of Tuesday's local election results in the Northeast will prompt special elections for a pair of Republican-held seats that Democrats will have a shot at flipping:
NY-SD-50: Republican state Sen. Bob Antonacci won a state Supreme Court race on Tuesday, which creates a vacancy for his suburban Syracuse seat. This district supported Clinton 50-45 and Obama 54-43. Antonacci came out on top 51-49 in his race last year, a low mark given that this district’s previous Republican incumbent faced no serious opposition in the last several elections.
PA-HD-18: Republican state Rep. Gene DiGirolamo was elected to the Bucks County Commission on Tuesday, opening up his Bensalem-based state House seat. While DiGirolamo never had any trouble winning re-election, this district is strongly Democratic at the presidential level. Clinton was victorious here 58-41, and Obama won by a similar 59-39 spread.