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Democrat Alex Holladay prevailed in a special election<\/a> on Tuesday for a state legislative seat in Arkansas, marking the ninth time since President Donald Trump took office last year that the party has flipped control of a state legislative seat in a special election.<\/p>\n In that same time, Republicans have not flipped a single state seat controlled by Democrats.<\/p>\n Holladay, a health care administrator, defeated Republican businessman Bo Renshaw<\/a> in a race to replace state Rep. Carlton Wing, a Republican who defeated Holladay by 2 points in 2024. Arkansas\u2019 70th District is just north of Little Rock.<\/p>\n In a statement<\/a>, Holladay said he learned a lot from his previous loss.<\/p>\n \u201cMainly, it taught us that North Little Rock and Sherwood are primed for change,\u201d he said. \u201cThousands of people told us that year that they were sick and tired of single-party GOP rule in Arkansas \u2026 The People are ready to hold our state\u2019s leaders accountable, and that\u2019s what this election was about.\u201d<\/p>\n Holladay\u2019s victory came after Democrats, since the start of 2025, have flipped Republican-held seats<\/a> in special elections in Iowa, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Georgia and Texas. When adding in the flips from last fall\u2019s off-year elections in New Jersey and Virginia, Democrats have flipped 27 total seats controlled by Republicans, while Republicans are still searching for their first flip, according to data compiled<\/a> by the The Downballot, a left-leaning outlet.<\/p>\n Democrats say the trend<\/a> portends well for them ahead of this year\u2019s midterm elections, particularly as they have exceeded expectations in off-cycle contests while Republican turnout has proven strongest in presidential years. This is at least in part due to the Democratic coalition being increasingly made up of high-engagement, high-propensity voters, while Republicans have become the coalition of the less engaged. <\/p>\n That dynamic has had Republicans searching for answers on how to get their coalition to the polls without Trump on the ballot, a problem they\u2019ve been trying to solve for years.<\/p>\n The elections have also come as polling has shown voters expressing dismay or skepticism with Trump\u2019s handling of the economy<\/a> and foreign affairs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said a common thread between the candidates who have been able to flip Republican-held seats in these special elections is that \u201cthey are not running on a sole anti-Trump agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re looking for a path forward,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cThe other through-line is that under no stretch of the imagination is the unpopularity of this Republican Party solely about Democratic voters and blue states.\u201d<\/p>\n The Republican State Leadership Committee, which works to elect down-ballot Republicans, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n