Back on Tuesday, December 9, Democrat Eric Gisler flipped a state house seat in Georgia that Donald Trump won by 13 points last year. This is yet another significant defeat for Donald Trump, lowering his already declining political prestige, and thus is political power, even further.
Notably, 363 readers of Bowers News Media and its associated political analysis and practical life advice Substack, Wolves and Sheep, contributed at least $4,972 to Gisler during the final days of the campaign. This represents a significant percentage of Gisler's overall fundraising, one which I hope he was able to put to use before the polls closed. Who knows, that final burst of cash may have even tipped the balance in this tight race, which Gisler won by 197 votes.
Doesn't it feel good to win? Now, let's see if we can do it again in two upcoming special elections in South Carolina.
On December 23, voters in South Carolina will go to the polls for a special elections in South Carolina House of Representatives District 88. The Democratic candidate is Joseph "Chuck" Hightower, who served as a colonel in the U.S. Army caring for wounded soldiers and coordinating medical operations during natural disasters at home and aboard. After 30 years of service, he retired from the army and became a professor at Webster University, where he was named “Professor of the Year” three times. He is also the director of a GED program, helping local residents complete their high school educations.
This is a very red district that Donald Trump won by a 2-1 margin last year, making victory unlikely. However, even coming close in a district like this would be a disastrous result for Republicans and Donald Trump. Such an outcome would increase the willingness of Republicans to criticize Trump, result in more Republicans declining to seek re-election in 2026, and thus generally reduce Donald Trump's political power overall.
Two weeks later, we have the January 6th special election for South Carolina House of Representatives District 98. This is a winnable race, as Donald Trump only won this district by 7 points back in November 2024. That margin is smaller than the 13-point average swing toward Democrats in the 64 special elections for state legislative and House of Representative seats held so far in 2025.
The Democratic candidate in the 98th district is Dr. Sonja Ogletree Satani, who is a great candidate in her own right. According to her bio, she is an air force veteran and entrepreneurial business consultant who has a PhD and two MBAs. For two years, she served as the president of the American Business Women’s Association.
Your small dollar donations can make a much bigger difference in small elections like these, where less than $200,000 will be spent in total. Compare that to the $20,000,000 or more that will be spent on a competitive House of Representatives seat next year, or the $200,000,000 or more on a competitive U.S. Senate seat. These special elections for state legislature are great deals for grassroots activists!
I created this ActBlue page to make it easy for you to support both candidates. On this page, you can split a donation to Joseph "Chuck" Hightower, Sonja Ogletree Satani and Bowers Kerbel Media, which is the organization that operates both the Bowers News Media news and activism email list, as well as the Wolves and Sheep political analysis and practical life advice Substack. Please note that it is possible to adjust the amounts that you donate to each entity–in fact, you can even support Chuck Hightower and Sonja Ogletree Satani without donating to Bowers Kerbel Media at all. You can view Chuck Hightower's website here, and donate to him directly on ActBlue, here. You can visit Sonja Ogletree Satani's website here, and donate to her directly on ActBlue, here.
Please split a donation between Joseph "Chuck" Hightower, Sonja Ogletree Satani and Bowers Kerbel Media. Let's deliver another blow to Donald Trump's power and prestige in two upcoming special elections in South Carolina, and do it at a great value.