The special election to replace George Santos in Congress will double as a dress rehearsal for November, when Republicans need to engage swing-district voters if they’re going to keep control of the US House.
The Feb. 13 contest will guide strategists as they try to understand whether voters who switched direction after the last presidential election might change again — and what messages make a difference as Republicans defend a majority that’s their smallest since the 1950s.
“That’ll be the canary in the coal mine,” said ex-Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), who led the House Republicans’ campaign arm through ...