Dem wins Kentucky state House seat in district Trump won by 49 points

BY BRANDON CARTER AND REID WILSON
02/20/18

Kentucky Democrats on Tuesday reclaimed a rural district in the state House of Representatives that went heavily for President Trump in 2016. Linda Belcher (D), a former state legislator who lost her seat in the Trump landslide in Kentucky, reclaimed the Bullitt County district by a more than two-to-one margin, defeating her GOP opponent Rebecca Johnson 68 percent to 32 percent. The Democrat had lost her seat in 2016 by just 150 votes, or less than 1 percentage point, even as Trump carried the district with 72 percent of the vote there compared to Hillary Clinton's 23 percent. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also won the district in 2016 with 64 percent of the vote. Tuesday's special election in the state's House District 49 was held to replace former state Rep. Dan Johnson (R), who killed himself in December. Johnson, a pastor at a local church, had been accused of sexual abuse against a member of his congregation. He strongly denied the accusations, though he killed himself just days after local media reported the allegations. Her victory Tuesday is the latest in a series of Democratic victories in special elections across the country over the past year.

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