This tiny special election in Oklahoma could be a deeply troubling sign for Republicans


Democrats and Republicans are closely watching any and all special elections that might prophesize how things could go in 2018. Democrats are hoping that President Trump's historically low job approval rating could carry their party to victory in close counties, while Republicans have celebrated victories in Kansas and sapped the momentum of a Democratic challenger in Georgia by forcing a runoff. Montana's special election is just around the corner, on May 25.
But Republicans still have every reason to be nervous, especially judging by the results of a special election in a deep-red county east of Oklahoma City. On Tuesday, Republican Zack Taylor managed to win 50-48 over his Democratic opponent, Steve Barnes, to seize the vacant 28th State House District seat — but the race should have been a landslide for the GOP. Mitt Romney carried the district 69-31 four years ago, and Trump won the region in November a whopping 73-23.
In other words, while a win is still a win, Taylor's victory marked a 48-point fall for the party in a Republican-friendly district in Oklahoma. The win was confirmed by just 56 votes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
While the left-leaning Daily Kos points out in its analysis of the election that other factors were at play, including "a savage and unresolved budget crisis presided over by the GOP," it also notes that "we've almost never seen anything this dramatic, but the outcome fits into a pattern we've witnessed ever since Trump's win last year. Nationwide, there have now been a dozen races pitting a Republican versus a Democrat in legislative and congressional special elections, and in nine of them, Democratic candidates have performed better than the 2016 presidential results."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
Interest rate cut: the winners and losers
The Explainer The Bank of England's rate cut is not good news for everyone
-
Quiz of The Week: 3 – 9 May
Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: Will robots benefit from a sense of touch?
Podcast Plus, has Donald Trump given centrism a new lease of life? And was it wrong to release the deadly film Rust?
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations