WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans just got a big argument for sticking with President Donald Trump and pushing forward with dismantling former President Barack Obama’s health law. And Democrats are struggling to translate the energy of their core supporters into actual election victories.

Tuesday night’s outcome in a special House race in Georgia was a triumph for the GOP, and the most recent illustration of the Democrats’ problems — from a weak bench and recruiting problems to divisions about what the party stands for today.

Instead of a win or even a razor-thin loss by Democrat Jon Ossoff that many had expected, Republican Karen Handel ended up winning by a relatively comfortable 4 percentage point margin in the wealthy suburban Atlanta district previously held by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

That followed another recent Democratic disappointment in Montana, where the Republican candidate won even after last-minute assault charges, and an earlier loss for the Democrats in Kansas.

Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Minn., said Democrats are not as good on delivering a winning message to voters as they should be.

“Harry Truman said it best, if you want to be Republican-lite, people will vote for the real thing every time,” Nolan told reporters.

Indeed the best news Democrats got Tuesday night was a different special House race, in South Carolina, ended up closer than the Georgia contest even though it had drawn little national attention. Republican Ralph Norman beat Democrat Archie Parnell by around 3 percentage points in South Carolina, closer than expected and a warning sign to the GOP not to take any seat for granted.

But for Democrats, having failed to unseat a Republican in four special House elections in a row despite an extremely energized base, it’s now a time for soul-searching — and finger-pointing.

Ossoff ran a careful campaign and shied away from talking about Trump, and some groups on the left wasted no time in insisting Democrats must draw brighter contrasts with the GOP.

“Defeating Republicans in districts that they have traditionally held requires doing something drastically different than establishment Democrats have done before — specifically, running on a bold progressive vision and investing heavily in direct voter contact,” said Jim Dean, chair of Democracy for America.