Democrat Flips Trump District in Alabama Special Election After Campaigning on Reproductive Rights

Marilyn Lands scored a victory for Democrats in Alabama’s House of Representatives on Tuesday night by flipping a Republican district.

While the victory doesn’t mean a whole lot for Democrats in the Republican-dominated legislature in the state, the contest continued Democrats’ hot streak in special elections around the country.

Lands campaigned for the seat in District 10 on reproductive rights and seized on the drama caused by the Alabama Supreme Court last month when it ruled that embryos are people, imperiling in vitro fertilization providers in the state.

“Today, Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will be heard in Montgomery and across the nation,” Lands said in a statement. “Our legislature must repeal Alabama’s no-exceptions abortion ban, fully restore access to IVF, and protect the right to contraception.”

By a margin of 67% to 32%, Lands handily defeated Madison City Council member Teddy Powell, who conceded the race. Notably, former President Donald Trump won the district, which includes the Huntsville area, by one point in 2020.

The IVF decision by the state’s highest court prompted clinics that offer in vitro fertilization to cease the practice, lest they be charged for disposing of embryos. In response, the legislature and governor scrambled to shield facilities offering IVF from legal liability. IVF services have now resumed in Alabama.

“From what I heard from the voters at the polls I was at, [reproductive rights] was a really big factor. And so many women came out. I had a woman with her young daughter wanting her to see history being made,” Lands said in an interview after winning the race.

“This is a huge win for Alabama,” former Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) said on CNN’s The Source. “It’s a huge win for women who are going to be pushing back, consistently pushing back on all the restrictive women’s reproductive [laws] that we’re seeing coming out of Montgomery these days.”

Democrats have enjoyed electoral success by campaigning on reproductive freedom since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Republicans only narrowly retook the House in the midterms that year even though many expected a “red wave” that would also hand control of the Senate to the GOP. Instead, Republicans lost a seat in the upper chamber.