Democrat Marilyn Lands defeated Republican Teddy Powell in a special election Tuesday night for a state House seat in north Alabama that drew national attention.

Lands, a licensed professional counselor, flipped the seat from red to blue by besting Powell, a Madison city councilman, 62 percent to 38 percent with 100percent of the precincts in District 10 reporting, according to unofficial results posted on the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office website.

The race drew national interest against the backdrop of the controversial Alabama State Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are considered children under state law.

The seat became vacant when ex-Rep. David Cole resigned after pleading guilty to illegal voting.

  • Jaysyn@kbin.social
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    3 months ago

    By my reckoning, the GOP has lost 16 of their last 19 special elections. Several of them being in so called “red” states.

    • kescusay@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Yep. It’s one of the reasons I’m skeptical of polling this year. It seems like the difficulty pollsters have reaching various demographics that are likely to vote for Democrats is getting worse, not better. They try to compensate by weighting their results, but it’s not an exact science, and Dems are consistently overperforming versus what the polls say.

      • Jaysyn@kbin.social
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        3 months ago

        Dems are consistently overperforming versus what the polls say.

        It’s been +9 points nationwide since Roe V. Wade was overturned.

        • kescusay@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Yep. That doesn’t mean anything is in the bag, of course. We still have to fight like hell for every vote.

          But it does mean we shouldn’t be all doom and gloom.

          • RippleEffect@lemm.ee
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            3 months ago

            Honestly if people feel like it’s in the bag, they’re less likely to vote. Seeing losses might encourage higher turnout to overcorrect and this might well be how we end up with Trump again.

      • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Many people change their minds at the last minute before casting their ballots. Polling is science, but not quite so at the same time.

        • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Not to mention the ones that just lie. No one will ever know so they do it just to throw a wrench in the machine. Someone said the other day, “We are all just poltergeists in meat suits.”