Shocking vote for Republican in charge (8)
I believe the answer is:
electric
'shocking' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'vote for republican in charge' is the wordplay.
'vote for' becomes 'elect' (I've seen this before).
'republican' becomes 'R' (abbreviation in US politics).
'in charge' becomes 'ic' (abbreviation for 'in charge').
'elect'+'r'+'ic'='ELECTRIC'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for electric that I've seen before include "type of chair nobody wants to end up in?" , "Charged with sudden thrill" , "describing power supplies?" , "startling effect" , "Thrilling (potentially shocking?)" .)