‘Wait, what?’: the underdog Democrats who won their midterm races against all odds

Several Democratic candidates with little public profile overturned expectations in US midterm races, winning seats in areas long considered safe for Republicans. Their victories reflect a wider Democratic wave that unseated Republicans in deep-red districts, with voters’ concerns about affordability and other national issues cited as part of the political backdrop.

In Tennessee, Victoria Broderick was declared the winner over Republican incumbent Scott DesJarlais by about 300 votes, though the Associated Press had not called the race. Iowa’s Eric Armstrong won by more than 800 votes despite withdrawing in September for health reasons and not campaigning for the final two months. In Arizona, 19-year-old college student Sebastian Matta defeated former state lawmaker Jeff Dial to become clerk of the superior court in Maricopa County, the country’s fourth-largest county.