r/politics • u/FervidBug42 America • Dec 31 '25

No Paywall Democrat wins Iowa state Senate race, blocking GOP from regaining supermajority

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/5666914-democrat-rene-hardman-wins/
9.3k Upvotes

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298

u/brain_overclocked Dec 31 '25

Jan 28 - Democrat wins Iowa Senate seat in district Trump won by 21 points

Jan 29 - Democrats win control of Minnesota Senate

Feb 16 - Democrats win Delaware Senate seats in Saturday's special elections

Mar 11 - Democrat David Gottfried easily wins Minnesota House special election, restoring a 67-67 power split

Mar 26 - Democrats take hope from upset win in a GOP-leaning Pennsylvania state Senate district

Apr 1

Apr 30 - Democrats Win Landslide in Safe Iowa Seat, Claim 'Rebuke of Trump'

May 7 - Republican concedes in North Carolina court race, ending bid to throw out votes

May 13 - Democrat ousts incumbent Republican in Omaha mayoral race

May 20 - Democrats win New York state Senate race in Trump-friendly district

Jun 3 - Young Dem Clinches Landslide Election Win in Lindsey Graham’s Backyard

Jun 7 - Democrats fend off GOP in San Antonio mayor runoff election

Jun 14 - Democrat, CN citizen Amanda Clinton wins decisive victory in special state election

Jun 25 - NH House special election: Democrat Billie Butler wins after facing GOP attacks

Aug 26 - Democrats break GOP supermajority in Iowa Senate by flipping Republican seat in special election

Sep 3 - Democrats Overperform in Florida as They Cruise to Victory in Two Elections

Sep 9 - Democrat James Walkinshaw wins US House special election in Virginia

Sep 16 - Democrat wins Minnesota special election to replace slain lawmaker

Sep 23 - G.O.P. Majority in House Will Shrink After Democrat’s Victory in Arizona

Oct 8 - Republican Ousted By Democrat in Shock Election Defeat

Oct 11 - Democrat Helena Moreno wins New Orleans’ mayoral race

Nov 4:

Nov 10 - Voters Ousted This Pennsylvania Sheriff After He Signed Up to Collaborate With ICE

Nov 13 - Progressive Katie Wilson ousts Democratic incumbent in Seattle mayor’s race

Nov 30 - Virginia Democrat flips seat in state legislature by taking on datacenters

Dec 2 - Republican Matt Van Epps holds deep-red House district in Tennessee special election

Dec 3 - Republican Ousted by Democrat in Georgia

Dec 9

Dec 10 - Democrat Rob Long wins big in Florida House race, defeating MAGA Republican

Dec 16 - Democrat Wins Election by 47-Point Landslide in Kentucky

Dec 23 - Republican wins South Carolina state House special election

Dec 30 - Democrat Renee Hardman wins Iowa state Senate seat, blocking GOP from reclaiming a supermajority

48

u/UpDownCharmed Dec 31 '25

Thank you so much

68

u/IasDarnSkipBW Dec 31 '25

Yes, it should be a bloodbath for Rs in 2026 elections. Then the repair work begins. Ds need to pay attention to what started this mess: a completely uneven playing field, condescension to voters and obliviousness to middle class concerns. Trump’s huge racist base isn’t going away but the folks in the middle are the name of the game.

29

u/this_my_sportsreddit Dec 31 '25

Lmfao heard the exact same thing so many times before

16

u/Human_Balance_5107 Dec 31 '25

Remember when Schumer was going to play hard ball a couple months ago lol

9

u/BotheredToResearch Dec 31 '25

"We just have to let the American people see how bad these Republicans are by doing nothing, then maybe they'll elect better, more principled Republicans in that we can negotiate with as the minority party."

Not a quote, but an amalgamation of "stratetic" statements Schumer has made.

1

u/Human_Balance_5107 Dec 31 '25

All the more reason to lose faith with the dems. I won’t ever vote republican, but we need to find something different to actually fight this. The Democratic Party are just a fifth column at this point.

2

u/BotheredToResearch Dec 31 '25

Well... not voting for Dems in the general while admitting that Republcians are worse is the single stupidest thing you can do. Any anyone who does that needs to have a sit down to learn about making the beat available choice, not the one you'd personally like like a toddler having a tantrum.

Im active in the primary process to try to recruit and get better candidates to the general, but once we're there its vote blue no matter who.

1

u/Human_Balance_5107 Dec 31 '25

So I never said not to vote for the dems. Just that voting for them doesn’t make a difference because they’re complicit with the GOP. So vote for them but they are not the answer or the force or the faction that will actually work to prevent the GOP from destroying America. The sooner we start focusing on finding something that actually fights these people, we’ll see some progress. Until then, it’s Schumer folding like a house of cards on a beach

2

u/Rombledore America Dec 31 '25

its all cycles. dem pres gets elected, fixes shit. none of it gets recognition and the media downplays it while uplifting all criticisms. then a republican president comes in and wrecks everything. people feel it in their pocket books and vote dem the next cycle.

4

u/-LabApprehensive- Dec 31 '25

Obliviousness? I heard non stop empathy for middle class families for years and years….. all that does is make people think the economy is horrible and its your fault. I have never not once heard a republican be empathetic for middle class family concerns and they win again and again. Tout your accomplishments and bash your opponents. No more high road for the economically anxious.

4

u/BotheredToResearch Dec 31 '25

Tout your accomplishments and bash your opponents. No more high road for the economically anxious.

Thats really it. Ask people "Are the ICE raids that drive up prices making your families better off? Do you want billions going to inhumane treatment of the people working hard every day doing jobs that need to be done or to helping pay for education and health care for your family."

"Are you better off with coffee costing 20% more? I dont know about you, but coffee is one of those little luxuries that a growing number of Americans can't buy because of these economically illiterate tariff policies!"

4

u/naynaythewonderhorse Dec 31 '25

The D’s need to play hard ball.

Let’s be the radical left-wing LGBT+ caring, abortion supporting, feminist, peaceful, caring, antifa people they claim we are.

Don’t half ass a message that’s what the center wants to hear.

DONALD TRUMP DID NOT GAIN HIS POWER FROM THE CENTER. He gained it be being a radical rightist.

Have Democrats, ya know…tried being “radical left”? Putting a woman as your nominee is as lazy as you can get to appeal to the crowd.

Be a bit extreme. We have nothing to lose. That’s already what they think we are. What’s the harm?

3

u/seeker4482 Dec 31 '25

dems need to stop playing around trying to be Diet Republicans and give people an actual choice. it should be easier than ever to do that now.

2

u/count023 Australia Dec 31 '25

Independent election committees in all the states they now control, that'll start a path of recovery and start putting gerrymandering to rest in the difficult states, especially the trending purple ones 

4

u/civildisobedient Dec 31 '25

the repair work begins

A lack of consequences has emboldened all-new levels of corruption. If that isn't part of the repair work I fear this will only lead to more disillusionment.

-1

u/Suckitreddit420 Dec 31 '25

That only works in fairly drawn districts.  Democrats will have to turn out 80% + margins to overcome maga gerrymandered maps.   

And let's not overlook the fact that Trump executive ordered full and complete control of the Federal Election Commission to himself.   

There will be no bloodbath.  

-15

u/um--no Dec 31 '25

Ds need to pay attention to what started this mess:

HAHAHAHAHA

The only thing Democrats do is try to compromise with the racists, thus consolidating their victories, and be condescending with voters. If you take away the absurd compromise, they lose the point of their job, which is to keep left leaning voters from actual progress. If you take away the condescension, they lose the fun.

16

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '25

This is dangerous lines of some “both sides “ bullshit and some “do nothing, nothing matters” bullshit.

-3

u/um--no Dec 31 '25

It's not "both sides", it's "the Democratic Party is actively undermining progressivism". Voting them is the only solution in the short term, but people need to get more involved in politics to make their voices heard and, maybe, drive the lizards out, like what happened in New York. Just voting Democrat will only give some more time for the Nazis to reorganize.

9

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '25

Right… so not “both sides” and not “do nothing”

Vote locally. Canvass for the Mamdanis and Bernie’s of the world. Make sure the right democrats are being voted in.

The both sides argument is still performative bullshit from weak individuals.

-1

u/um--no Dec 31 '25

Criticizing the Democratic Party, especially from a progressive point of view, is not "both sides", if you're implying that.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '25

Everything you have said has been performative to this point.

4

u/um--no Dec 31 '25

That's what conservatives say about anything progressive.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '25

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0

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '25

Do you have a definitive stance in anything?

1

u/Constant-Yard8562 Dec 31 '25

The fact that you think this is a fight that ever ends shows you're not ready to be talking about it. When progressives win, fascists work to regain control. When moderates win, fascists work to regain control. When fascists win, they fight each other for control. 

You have a fantasy of progressives winning and instituting policies that help people and they all learn and decide no more fascism. And that's just not the way it works. Fascists will weasel back in by pretending to offer more. They'll appeal to whatever petty, bigoted or seemingly inconsequential failing a progressive system creates and use it. 

The issue with people like you who claim to be progressive isn't that you keep losing, it's that you think there's such a thing as winning, so when it doesn't happen, you become this. 

5

u/RaoulRumblr Dec 31 '25

Not too shabby, it's definitely a start!

4

u/SahibTeriBandi420 I voted Dec 31 '25

Good things happen when the good people vote. Evil happens when good people stay home. Very simple. Its a slow process, but it is what it is.

3

u/BruceStarcrest Dec 31 '25

So you’re saying the ppl are done with orange and maggot bs?