As Townhall covered earlier this week, midterm watchers' eyes were on local elections in several states on Tuesday to see what could be gleaned ahead of the year's primary elections and November's general election set to determine which party controls Congress beginning in 2023.
In states such as Wisconsin, Republican enthusiasm was already significantly outpacing Democrats as seen in the amount of spending on school board races in most districts statewide. Local Republicans outspent Democrats by a margin of 7-to-1, and it paid off in several of those and other local races where conservative candidates were running to unseat Democrat incumbents.
This is how parents make their voices heard - congrats, Waukesha! https://t.co/ZbdceIdvuz
— Rebecca Kleefisch (@RebeccaforReal) April 6, 2022
In Waukesha County, Judge Maria Lazar defeated incumbent Judge Lori Kornblum — who was appointed by Democrat Gov. Tony Evers — for a seat on the Court of Appeals.
Voters in Kenosha County, where Black Lives Matter rioters left the city ransacked, elected Samantha Kerkman, the first woman and first Republican, to become County Executive.
And in Portage County that's been Democrat since 2006, voters flipped it red and elected a Republican as County Executive.
In battleground Wisconsin, Kenosha County just elected the first Republican county executive in history! #RedWave
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) April 6, 2022
Elsewhere in the country, Republicans showed their ability to win early in 2022, a trend the Republican National Committee sees carrying the party to big wins in November.
Such was the case in Oklahoma where Republican Larry Heikkila beat incumbent Democrat Breea Clark to become mayor of the city of Norman — a college town that Joe Biden won by nine points in 2020.
Democrat Incumbent Breea Clark loses to Republican Larry Heikkla in the Norman Oklahoma mayoral race
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) April 6, 2022
Larry Heikkila (R): 53% (+6)
Breea Clark (D): 47%
Joe Biden won this city by 9 points
? 15 POINT SHIFT TOWARDS GOP pic.twitter.com/ieShpLAoOz
"Voters across the country cast their ballots for Republicans and our proven agenda, rejecting Biden and Democrats’ collapsing agenda," RNC Spokesperson Emma Vaughn told Townhall of Tuesday's results. "The Republican National Committee worked hand in glove with our state parties to deliver resounding victories for Republican candidates up-and-down the ballot."
That work included RNC-organized get-out-the-vote efforts in person and by phone, hundreds of thousands of voter contacts, trainings on election integrity, dozens of poll watchers, and voter data. Their work at the neighborhood level that proved helpful to winning 2022's early races will likely further energize Republican involvement and turnout in subsequent primaries and eventually November's general election.
Across the board, recent polls show that the current state of America is not favorable to Democrats. Inflation, supply chain struggles, spiking crime, and crises abroad combine as President Biden and members of his party have little to show for their time in power over the executive and legislative branches of government. Local, kitchen table issues have proven to be winning issues by the likes of Glenn Youngkin in Virginia last year, and Tuesday's results show some of the same issues resonate with voters in local elections elsewhere.
As Vaughn emphasized, "Republicans are proving we can compete and win in even in the deepest of blue states, districts and cities" while "Democrats will be forced to answer to the American people for their failures in November."