Not a surprise. The most energized voters come out for these types of elections. Exploiting that fact is how AOC beat an 18 term incumbent by a few 1000 votes - with only 8% turnout it doesn’t take much.
Yes, turnout is key in these dinky sort of elections. That’s what our side needs to remember. Too many of the most enthusiastic Trump supporters haven’t been the type to pay attention to little elections most people don’t even know are going on. It would be easy to get more and more MAGA candidates elected to all sorts of lesser offices and positions, if we figure out a way to push up the MAGA turnout.
Unsurprising or not, this story really is a good example to use with moderate Dems, though, in letting them know how radical their party has gotten. Some are still in denial.