Democrats Flip Two State Legislative Seats in CT and NH, Bringing Trump-Era Total to 39

[ehrnst]

Two Democrats won state legislative contests on Tuesday night, flipping the seats from Republican hands and marking the 38th and 39th legislative flips since President Trump's inauguration. Democrats have now also flipped six this year alone.

Democrat Phil Spagnuolo won a special election in New Hampshire's Belknap County District 3 on Tuesday night 968-841 (54%-46%).

The contest for this state House race pitted Spagnuolo, a substance abuse recovery coach, against Republican Les Cartier, a former employee at the state fire marshal's office. The seat was left open after the death of Republican State Rep. Donald Flanders last September. Donald Trump won the district by a sizable 54-41 margin in 2016, four years after Barack Obama carried it by just one point, 50-49.

Democrat Phil Young won a contest in Connecticut's state House District 120 as well.

The race in House District 120 was a result of a vacancy when former State Rep. Laura Hoydick, a Republican, resigned after becoming mayor of Stratford. It pitted Young against Republican Bill Cabral, both of whom were former Town Council members. In the 2016 presidential election, the district voted for Hillary Clinton by a small margin 49-47, despite the fact that she beat President Trump statewide by nearly 14 points.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/democrat-wins-nh-state-special-election-for-38th-flip-since-trumps-inauguration

[sunonmars]

1. apparently one of them i think NH has not been Dem for 40 years.......let that sink in.

[lamp_shade]

2. Do you happen to know how many races flipped blue to red during the same period?

[ehrnst]

3. Google: "No results found for "Republicans flip house seat"

[lamp_shade]

4. Thanks. I couldn't find anything either. nt

[LAS14]

5. It seems like Ballotopedia.com should have this kind of info, but....

I couldn't dig it out. Maybe someone else can?

https://ballotpedia.org/State_legislative_elections,_2018#New_Hampshire

[LAS14]

6. See my response #5 nt

[Jim Lane]

7. There was one blue-to-red flip in New Jersey

One State Senate district had been represented by a Democrat, Jim Whelan, since his first election in 2007. He died in office in 2017 (having already announced he wouldn't run for re-election). His successor to fill the remainder of his term, Colin Bell, was chosen by local Democratic committee members. In the November 2017 election, Bell, running for a full term for the first time, lost to the Republican.

Elsewhere in the state, Democrats flipped two other State Senate seats, for a net gain of one seat, along with two red-to-blue flips in the General Assembly.

I think I've read that the result in Whelan's district was the only blue-to-red flip anywhere in the country since Trump's inauguration, but I can't confirm that.