Dems score blowout victory in Kentucky as Trump's popularity plummets

Democrats continued their string of special election victories on Tuesday with a blowout win in a Kentucky state senate district that former Vice President Kamala Harris only carried by 5 points in 2024, according to calls by Decision Desk and the Louisville Courier Journal.

Kentucky Senate District 37, which consists of the neighborhoods of Louisville just west of the airport, has been vacant ever since Democratic Sen. David Yates was appointed clerk of Jefferson County. Republicans were hoping to be competitive in the race after the narrow margins in the presidential election.

But the district was more Democratic in downballot races, Yates having carried the seat by 21 points. And on Tuesday evening, Democratic candidate Gary Clemons clinched a landslide victory against Republican Calvin Leach. As of 7:30 p.m., Clemons was up by a margin of 72.6% to Leach's 25.1%.

As President Donald Trump has seen his popularity falling and voters' opinion on the economy continues to sour, Democrats have racked up a number of overperformance victories around the country, including the November elections in Virginia, New Jersey, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.

They followed up with an unusually close contest in a heavily Republican, gerrymandered congressional special election in Nashville, Tennessee.