Republicans padded their slim House majority with a special election win in Georgia on Tuesday night. But the race also marked the biggest swing against the GOP compared with the 2024 presidential results out of seven House special elections in President Donald Trump’s second term.

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It’s the latest sign of an encouraging political environment for Democrats, though the results in lower-turnout special elections never translate exactly to November. Democrats hope to mobilize voter frustration with Trump and his party to break the Republicans’ unified control of Washington this year.

Republican attorney Clay Fuller, Trump’s pick to fill the seat vacated by GOP former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation this year, is projected to defeat Democrat Shawn Harris and hold Georgia’s 14th Congressional District for Republicans. But the results Tuesday look nothing like in 2024, when Trump won the district by almost 37 points and Greene won by about 29 points.

Fuller led Harris by 55.9% to 44.1% with 99% of the expected vote in, according to NBC News’ Decision Desk. That’s a 12-point margin — and a 25-point swing from Trump’s margin.

The previous biggest swing in a House special election during Trump’s second term came about a year ago, in Florida’s 1st District. There, Democrat Gay Valimont lost by about 15 points, a 23-point improvement on Trump’s 37-point victory margin, even as Republican Jimmy Patronis won the seat. In another special House election the same day, in the state’s 6th District, Democrats improved on Harris’ 2024 margin by 16 points.

And in a December special House election in Tennessee, the Democratic candidate lost by 9 points about a year after Trump won the district by 22 points.

ATLANTA – A new bill headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk aims to provide Georgians with a safe way to surrender an infant through the installation of “baby safe haven boxes.” The legislation, which passed both the House and Senate last week, serves as an extension of Georgia’s current Safe Haven law.

What we know:

Under existing state law, a mother can surrender a child up to 30 days after birth at a fire department, police station, or hospital without facing prosecution. The new bill would expand these options by allowing for the installation of medical-grade safety boxes at these locations.

The boxes are designed to be installed on the exterior of hospitals, fire stations, or police stations. According to the legislation, these units will be equipped with security cameras to record anyone accessing the box. Once a child is placed inside, an automated system will trigger a 911 call to alert emergency responders. The infant is then transported to a hospital before being placed into the custody of the Department of Family and Children Services.

Local governments will not be responsible for the cost of the units. Instead, individual communities must fundraise if they wish to install a safety box in their area.

What they’re saying:

Advocates like Brittany Almon, who worked with legislators to support the bill, say the mission is deeply personal. Almon became an adoptive mother in 2022 to a boy who was surrendered under the state’s current Safe Haven Law.

“In 2022, I became an adoptive mom to a little boy who was surrendered under our current safe haven law. His biological mother did a face-to-face surrender,” Almon said. “He was a healthy baby boy and whatever her circumstances were, she knew that she couldn’t give him the life he deserved, and she knew there was somebody out there that could.”

Almon explained that the boxes provide a specialized environment for the infant while offering support to the parent.

“Inside the box, there’s a medical-grade bassinet that she will place her baby in. There’s actually also some resources that will fall out to her in an orange bag,” Almon said. “Once that door is shut, there’s a 30-second delay let her, the person, walk away. And from there, an alarm goes off, and that alarm will alert fire station or hospital staff that a newborn is in the box.”

Once the alarm sounds and the child is recovered, Almon noted that “then from there that baby is placed into the Department of Family and Children Services’ custody.”

While the use of surrender boxes has sparked debate, Almon argued that increasing available options is the priority.

“The more resources offer someone, the better it can be to help someone navigate the situation they’re in,” Almon said. “We can always judge people for what they do, and why do it, because we don’t know their circumstances.”

You can read more about Almon’s efforts here.