Dems win Kentucky GOP stronghold in state House of Representatives
Democratic lawmakers in the US state of Kentucky have reclaimed a rural district in the state’s legislature that voted heavily for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential elections.
Linda Belcher, a former state legislator who lost her seat in the Trump landslide in Kentucky, reclaimed the Bullitt County district by a more than 2-to-1 margin, defeating her Republican opponent Rebecca Johnson 68 percent to 32 percent.
Johnson is the widow of Republican state lawmaker Dan Johnson, who narrowly defeated Belcher, then an incumbent, in 2016 and committed suicide late last year.
Johnson, a pastor at a local church, had been accused of sexual abuse against a member of his congregation. He strongly denied the accusations, though he killed himself just days after local media reported the allegations.
Rebecca Johnson said she would run to replace her husband less than 24 hours after his death.
The Kentucky district is the 18th formerly Republican-held district to fall into Democratic hands in a special election since Trump won in 2016, a growing trend Democrats see as proof of their party's momentum heading into the midterms.
In an interview with The New York Times, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had said he expects to see Republicans lose seats in the House and Senate this year as the party pushes to retain its majorities in Congress ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
The top Republican in the Senate told The New York Times that "the odds are" his party will face losses in both chambers of Congress this year.
“The odds are that we will lose seats in the House and the Senate,” McConnell said.
President Trump reportedly plans to aggressively campaign for GOP candidates in 2018 as the party struggles to hold on to majorities in the House and Senate in November. Every member of the House is up for election in the midterms, while about a third of senators also face reelection
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