The Republicans won a special South Carolina House election on Tuesday, but the Democrats overperformed by double digits compared to their performance in the 2024 presidential election.
Republican John Lastinger won 62.3 percent of the vote in the election for the 88th district seat, beating Democrat Chuck Hightower, who secured 37.7 percent. This gave the Republicans a net win of +24.6 percent over the Democrats.
This represents an improved performance for the Democrats compared to the 2024 presidential election, when President Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris in the district by 67 percent to 32 percent, according to The State newspaper. In that election, the Republicans won with a net margin of +35 percentage points.



A lot of it has to do with who actually shows up to the polls. Trump supporters are pretty quiet these days with all the Epstein files revelations, while Dems are more motivated than they have been for a long time, knowing they may not see another fair election if they let this go much longer.
It’s funny to me that the Espstein trickle release would have an impact. I mean, did anyone not know that the proven rapist, convicted felon, life-long racist was a piece of shit? The other, undermining the foundation of the country, stuff should have more of an impact. And even if they somehow, grudgingly agree that trump is a piece of shit, they’ll still vote for his congressional enablers. I will remain pessimistic and hold onto my low expectations until I’m proven wrong.
And yet they still lost.
It was the opposite in 2024. Dems didn’t show up.