Good morning. It is Sunday, February 1st. You might not have heard of Taylor Remitt before right now,

but he just pulled off a stunning victory in a Republican stronghold in Texas last night.

Remit is a Democrat and a first-time politician. He just won a special election

to become the newest member of the Texas State Senate. At 33 years old, he's also going to be the

chamber's youngest member. And the race wasn't even close. As of this morning, the official tally

shows that he received 57% of the vote. His Republican opponent received 43% of the vote. That in itself

is a remarkable victory, but Remit won a seat in a ruby red district that has not been held by a Democrat

since 1991. In 2024, Donald Trump won that district by 17 points. If the current margins of

Remit's victory holds, that would be a 31-point swing in Democrats' favor.

Even Trump's endorsement was not enough of a boost for the Republican candidate, whom Trump called a, quote, true MAGA warrior.

While it might be too early to extrapolate what the results of this special election means for the November midterms, it is an encouraging sign for Democrats.

But there's something entirely else worth considering about Remit and the campaign that he ran.

Remit proudly centered his campaign around his history as a member and a leader of a labor union.

He works as a machinist at Lockheed Martin's fighter jet plant in Fort Worth.

He also serves as the president of both his local and state chapters of the International

Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. He earned the backing of other unions like

the Texas chapters of the AFL-CIO and the American Federation of Teachers. Union members volunteered

and helped his campaign to mobilize by

knocking on doors and passing out flyers and distributing campaign signs that read, quote,

proud union home. He wears these labels proudly, listing Union President as the first thing

on his official biography, and putting up campaign signs that identified him as, quote,

machinist, veteran, Texan.

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