01-17-2018, 03:42 PM
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/wake-up...-gop-alarm
Democrats pulled off a shocking upset to win a rural Wisconsin state senate seat Tuesday night, triggering alarm bells for Republicans across the state and nation.
Democrat Patty Schachtner defeated a well-known local Republican in a district that President Trump had carried by a whopping 55 percent to 38 percent just over a year ago.
Wisconsin Republicans sounded the alarm about what the results could mean, including that Gov. Scott Walker ®, who faces reelection next fall, suddenly looks considerably more vulnerable than he did one day ago.
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The district where Democrats triumphed last night covers the western sliver of Wisconsin’s Northwoods, encompassing some Minneapolis exurbs as well as a good swath of rural territory. Trump won it big after Romney carried it by a six-point margin in 2012, and it’s long been one of Republicans’ best-performing parts of the state. No Democrat has held this state senate seat in nearly two decades.
But Schachtner won by a nine-point margin despite the district’s strong GOP lean and her allies being outspent by GOP outside groups by a comfortable margin.