Three Elections That Show Democrats Are Doing Way Better Than You'd Think

Three elections across the country on Tuesday suggest that the Democratic Party is performing better than some critics may believe ahead of the presidential vote in November.

Democrats scored an important victory in the special election for a seat in the House of Representatives for New York's 3rd district and the party also has reason to be hopeful elsewhere.

President Joe Biden is seeking reelection on November 5 when Democrats will also be battling to retain control of the U.S. Senate and take back the House of Representatives.

Tuesday was a positive night for Democrats amid increased scrutiny in the media of the president's age following the publication of special counsel Robert Hur's report on February 8.

That report said that criminal charges were not warranted against Biden following a probe of his handling of classified documents but also raised questions about his memory, describing Biden as an "elderly man with a poor memory."

A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from February 9 to 12 showed former President Donald Trump leading Biden with 37 percent support to the president's 34 percent among the 1,237 adults surveyed. The margin of error was 2.9 percentage points.

However, Democrats can take some solace in Tuesday night's election results as the 2024 campaign begins in earnest.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) lauded Tom Suozzi's win in the special election for in New York's 3rd congressional district as well as other results in a statement issued to Newsweek on Wednesday.

"Pundit after pundit said the NY-03 special election would be a 'bellwether' going into November and that Democrats had 'good reason' to be worried. The result? Voters once again held Republicans accountable for their unpopular and extreme MAGA agenda, unwavering allegiance to Donald Trump, and losing strategy of putting Trump's political ambitions over delivering for Americans," the statement said.

"With Democrats consistently overperforming in election after election under President Biden, it's past time for the so-called political experts to figure out what voters already know: When Republicans spend all their time playing politics with critical issues like border security and peddling an extreme, unpopular agenda to rip away our freedoms, they lose," the DNC's statement said.

Here's a breakdown of the key results.

Tom Suozzi Triumphs in New York

Former Democratic Representative Tom Suozzi won the special election in New York's 3rd congressional district on Tuesday, defeating Republican candidate Mazi Melesa Pilip.

Suozzi will succeed former Representative George Santos, a Republican who was expelled from Congress after being charged with multiple fraud offenses to which he has pleaded not guilty.

A J.L. Partners poll conducted from February 10 to 12 among 500 likely voters showed Suozzi with 46 percent support to Pilip's 45 percent. A series of earlier polls suggested Suozzi led by 4 percent.

Though the polls suggested the race was neck-and-neck, the Democrat won 53.9 percent of the vote with 93 percent of districts reporting as of early Wednesday morning, while Pilip had 46.1 percent, according to The Associated Press.

Suozzi's win is good news for the party and his performance could indicate how Biden could defy the polls and go on to win the presidential election.

Democrat Outperforms in Pennsylvania

There was also good news for Democrats at the state house level as Jim Prokopiak defeated Republican Candace Cabanas in the special election for Pennsylvania's House district 140, in Bucks County, a Philadelphia suburb, which has been reliably Democratic.

Prokopiak's victory means the Democratic majority in the state house now stands at two. However, the margin of victory may be more significant for the party as a whole.

The Democratic candidate won 67.7 percent of the vote with around 95 percent of precincts reporting as of Tuesday night, while the Republican won 32.3 percent.

Prokopiak won greater support than his Democratic predecessor, John Galloway, when the seat was last contested in 2020. At that time, Galloway won 60 percent and his GOP opponent garnered 40 percent.

The Democrat's margin of victory is also greater than President Biden's in the 2020 presidential election. Biden won 55 percent of the vote in the district that year compared to Trump's 44 percent.

A Narrow Defeat in Oklahoma

Though Democratic candidate Regan Raff lost Tuesday's special election in Oklahoma House District 39, her Republican opponent's relatively narrow victory could be some consolation for her party.

Erick Harris won 50.3 percent of the vote to Raff's 45.1 percent, while Libertarian Richard Prawdzienski won 4.5 percent, according to unofficial results on Tuesday night.

Trump won the Edmond district, which has been reliably Republican, by 26 points in the 2020 presidential election.

Newsweek has reached out to Harris' office and the Oklahoma GOP via email for comment.

The special election was triggered following former state Representative Ryan Martinez's resignation in September after pleading guilty to a felony offense of being in physical control of a vehicle while intoxicated.

Update 02/15/2024, 09.04a.m. E.T.: This article was updated to include a statement from the DNC.