U.S. Rep.-elect Greg Gianforte won a special election last night despite punching out a reporter — allegedly — who had the nerve to ask him a question about health care overhaul legislation.

Democratic activists in Montana might be able to take away some solace — despite the defeat at the hands of the Republican opponent.

Gianforte was elected to Montana’s at-large congressional district. He defeated Democratic opponent Rob Quist by fewer than 7 percentage points in a state that voted for Donald J. Trump by more than 20 percent in the 2016 presidential election. Gianforte and Quist ran for the congressional seat vacated by Ryan Zinke, who became interior secretary in the Trump administration.

There’s another hopeful sign for Democrats. Gianforte will stand for re-election next year, which gives Democrats a better chance to make their case that this guy might be temperamentally unfit to represent Montana in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the Guardian newspaper, asked Gianforte to comment about the GOP health care legislation. Gianforte responded by “body slamming” Jacobs; he broke the young reporter’s glasses and inflicted a slight injury to one of his elbows. The sheriff’s department filed misdemeanor assault charges against Gianforte.

Here’s the thing: The incident occurred late in the campaign, just two days before the ballots were counted. Montana also is a vote-by-mail state, which means most of the ballots were cast before Gianforte lost his temper against a reporter doing his job — allegedly.

Do you think politics has gotten coarser during this Age of Donald J. Trump? Yeah, I believe so. The late, great Texas U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen’s adage about politics being a “contact sport” isn’t supposed to be taken literally.