A voter walks past 175 N. Green during the Illinois primary election in the Loop on March 17, 2026. Cast your vote inside the new Chicago Board of Elections ‘Super Site’ located on State Street as the general primary election takes place in Illinois, where registered party members select candidates for key races including U.S. Senate, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, U.S. House seats, state legislature, Cook County offices and various judicial positions ahead of the November 3 general election.
Jacek Bozarski | Anadolu | getty images
Democrats won the race for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat by 20 points, while Republicans won a special election for a House seat in Georgia by a much less comfortable margin than in 2024.
Tuesday’s pair of elections underscores the strong headwinds facing President Donald Trump and his Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, which could shift the balance of power in Washington and loosen Trump’s grip on power.
Democratic-backed appeals court Judge Chris Taylor won a 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeating conservative appeals court Judge Maria Lazar by nearly 20 points. associated Press match.
The race was much slower than the Supreme Court contest in Wisconsin last year, turning into the most expensive state Supreme Court race in history. Tesla Owner Elon Musk spent huge sums behind the Republican-backed conservative candidate, who lost.
Taylor’s 20-point margin of victory is almost double that of Justice Susan Crawford in 2025, who defeated Musk-backed Brad Schimel by about 10 points. The victory solidifies a 5-2 majority for liberals on the Wisconsin High Court.
Meanwhile, in Georgia, Republican Clayton Fuller defeated Democrat Shawn Harris by about 12 points in a special election for the House of Representatives seat vacated by former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. associated Press match. A Trump-backed Fuller victory would reduce the narrow Republican majority in the House, which sits at 217 Republicans to 214 Democrats — an effective one-vote margin on any party-line vote for Speaker Mike Johnson.
However, this victory may provide little consolation for Republicans, as Democrats fared better in the contest. Greene carried the district by 29 points in 2024, more than double Fuller’s margin of victory.
The result could be a good sign for Democrats, who are hoping to retain Senator Jon Ossoff’s Senate seat in the Peach State to have any chance of regaining the Senate majority.