In a speech before cheering supporters, Democrat Taylor Rehmet dedicated his victory “to everyday working people.”
Democrats scored a major upset on Saturday, as machinist union leader Taylor Rehmet easily defeated Republican opponent Leigh Wambsganss in a state senate special election held in a deep-red district that Donald Trump carried by 17 percentage points in 2024.
With nearly all votes counted, Rehmet holds a 14-point lead in Texas’ Senate District 9, which covers a large portion of Tarrant County.
Republican opponent Wambsganss conceded defeat in the race but vowed to win an upcoming rematch in November.
“The dynamics of a special election are fundamentally different from a November general election,” Wambsganss said. “I believe the voters of Senate District 9 and Tarrant County Republicans will answer the call in November.”
Of course! That’s the good cop/bad cop pattern that is US politics.
Party A makes a horrible mess and makes intractable changes that are never reversed.
Party B “saves” the people with landslide election, making small temporary concessions to much fanfare whilst leaving all of the actual nightmare machine built in the prior decade untouched.
“We were so close!”
“Just a few more votes!”
“We can’t make these changes overnight”
Stagnate for a generation or so and rake in immense treasures.
“Oh no we’ve printed too much money”, “help all of our manufacturing went to Mexico”, et al spiraling problems and out of control mess.
Party A, the same party that 10-20 years ago wrecked absolutely everything, is here to save the day! Finally! This is the last election! They have had to collect only “significant treasures” for some time, we have to switch it up again so they can now make “immense treasures”.
Parties then actually change and/or eliminate their “platform” and even switch places completely here and there. The “donors” and political elite remain the exact. same. people. The Fed keeps on working, and somehow even with the Fed keeping a firm hand, the banks made record profits. Oh no! they will collapse from their own profiteering fraud we need to give them tax money. They will pay us back, of course… but only AFTER they “print” all of that money that costs them nothing to print to pay us back with. Wait, they don’t even bother to “print” it, it’s just a number in a server. It’s even easier.
Rinse and repeat from 1970s until today! We will be saved from the villains who saved us from the villains who saved us from those other villains! We’re a democracy, see?
(I hope I’m wrong and instead they have a constitutional convention and SAVE THE WORLD and universal healthcare and “chicken in every pot” New Deal politics and firm corporate control and monopoly busting and separation of church-state cemented and so much more. but I don’t think so.)
I thought it was named “ratched effect” for that reason