Jan 17, 2018

Democrats score a big win in Wisconsin special election

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Democrat Patty Schachtner scored a 9-point victory in a special election in Wisconsin's State Senate District 10 last night, flipping a district that had been held by the GOP since 2000 and that President Trump won by 17 points in 2016, per The Huffington Post.

Why it matters: It's a massive swing to Democrats in a Republican-heavy area ahead of November's midterms — and elected GOP officials are spooked:

And that's not all, per Daniel Nichanian at the University of Chicago, there were three other worrying results for Republicans in state special elections last night — though they still managed to hang onto the following seats in these GOP-heavy areas:

  • South Carolina's House District 99 had a 15% net swing to Democrats.
  • Iowa's House District 6 had an 18% net swing to Democrats.
  • Wisconsin's Assembly District 58 had a 25% net swing to Democrats.

One more thing: Republicans maintain their stronghold in Wisconsin. The state is one of 26 Republican trifectas (the governor is Republican, and Republicans have the majority in both the state Assembly and the state Senate). And even with Schachtner’s win, Republicans will hold a 18-14 majority, per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Go deeper: If these results show on a national scale in November, they could usher in Trump's greatest nightmare.

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Protesters and riot police clash in Minsk, Belarus, on Sunday during a demonstration against President Alexander Lukashenko's claim of a landslide victory. Photo: Misha Friedman/Getty Images)

Riot police clashed with protesters in Belarus overnight after a government exit poll predicted Sunday President Aleksander Lukashenko, an authoritarian who has ruled the Eastern European country since 1994, had overwhelmingly defeated a pro-democracy opposition candidate.

Why it matters: It's a precarious moment for the former Soviet republic, where decades of repression and a complete disregard for the coronavirus pandemic threaten to topple "Europe's last dictator." Rights groups said at least one protester was killed and dozens more wounded in a "police crackdown," per AP.

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Anti-government protesters in Beirut. Photo: STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Why it matters: In her resignation letter, Information Minister Manal Abdel-Samad called change "elusive" and apologized for not delivering more to the country, which had been devastated by a financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic even before the blast destroyed much of the capital city.

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 19,863,850 — Total deaths: 731,374 — Total recoveries — 12,117,346 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 3 a.m. ET: 5,044,864 — Total deaths: 162,938 — Total recoveries: 1,656,864 — Total tests: 61,792,571 — Map.
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  4. States: New York reports lowest rate of positive coronavirus test results since pandemic began
  5. Public health: Ex-FDA head: U.S. will "definitely" see 200,000 to 300,000 virus deaths by end of 2020. 
  6. Schools: 97,000 children test positive for coronavirus in two weeks — Nine test positive at Georgia school where photo showing packed hallway went viral .
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