Alabama Republican Party chairman John Wahl released a statement on Wednesday downplaying Democrats' attempts to make the Republican loss in House District 10 to a Democrat into a national issue for other elections.
Wahl said, "National Democrats are trying to insinuate that House District 10 is a bellwether decision, not just for Alabama but also for the entire country. What they forget to say is that this is a purple district where Democrats always had a chance. Pretending that this election reflects on the entire state of Alabama is disingenuous and shows either a lack of understanding of the political landscape or an attempt to mislead voters."
Wahl went on to discuss that special elections have a mind of their own and that it's all about turning out one's base. He says decisions made on strategy play a major factor in what that turnout looks like. He pointed to the extremely low turnout for Tuesday's election and said Democrats got lucky but that this would surely be a target seat come the next election cycle.
He also discussed how the GOP has been very successful in swing districts over the years and how Lands lost this race by 7 points in the previous election. He said their strategy has been highlighting bold, conservative messaging to push back on the Democrat party's flawed woke and socialist agenda.
Wahl mentioned the 50 seats the GOP picked up last election cycle across Alabama despite not faring as well nationally.
"The lesson is we can not be afraid to stand strong for Conservative values," he said. "Republicans win when we talk about policy and the principles we believe in."
SEE ALSO: Democrat Marilyn Lands wins HD10 special election
He continued, "Low turnout special elections are hard to predict, and notorious for unexpected outcomes. Results in these types of races are about which candidate is able to excite their base. There are a lot of opinions on what messaging is best in this type of situation, and the Republican candidate chose a middle-of-the-road strategy in an attempt to bring in swing voters. That was the candidate's decision and we respected it, though unfortunately it did not have the desired outcome of turning out Republican voters."
"It's important to remember that only 14.5% of the population voted in this special election, and that is an extremely low turnout when compared to a regular general election. Democrats got lucky yesterday, and the Alabama Republican Party is committed to taking this seat back in 2026." the Chairman concluded.
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