Republicans have changed, maintained, or expanded their majorities in nearly every state legislature across the country. partisan control was to be seized election day.
Final votes in key state House and Senate races across the country have largely been tallied, with the results giving the GOP another slate of victories — atop the party. He took full control of Washington — that will likely help determine the future of several hot-button policy issues.
According to Associated Press projections, Republicans converted control Members of the Michigan State House secured their slim majorities in the New Hampshire State House and Senate, and retained their majority in the Pennsylvania State Senate.
Arizona, Republicans seemed ready While the AP has yet to call enough races to make that decision, expanding its narrow majority in the state House and state Senate.
Republicans in the Minnesota State House, where Democrats maintain a narrow majority appeared Although two close races led to a recount, the ward took three places resulting in a tie. Democrats won a special election for the Minnesota state Senate to retain control of the chamber.
In Minnesota and Michigan, the results in the state House were tantamount to a Democratic rebuke. a trifecta of power in each state. In many areas of both states, Democrats focused their messages on the party’s achievements with that power.
And the Democrats is kept their 102-101 majority in the Pennsylvania State House — the only bright spot for the party in state legislative chambers where partisan control is at stake.
Those results closely mirrored national trends, with Republicans overwhelmingly successful on Election Day.
“It’s clear that Republicans won a landslide victory on the ballot in this national election,” Republican State Committee Chairman Dee Duncan said in a statement. “Despite facing an unprecedented spending onslaught from a constellation of national liberal fringe groups and having to navigate a difficult political environment, we were able to achieve our goal of retaining control of the majority of state legislatures across the country.”
While state legislative races typically have a more local flavor, both parties have focused heavily on national issues this year — not least because many of the most critical races have occurred in presidential swing states.
For Democrats, that meant putting abortion rights at the forefront of many of their races, while Republicans emphasized the economy. immigration, crime and what they thought rights of parents.
Additionally, Republican victories in state legislative races have come even as Democratic caucuses have massively outnumbered them.
Outside Democratic groups, including the State Project, the Forward Majority and the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, spent at least $175 million on state legislative races in just nine states this cycle.
By comparison, the RSLC spent about $50 million this period, with no major spending outside of GOP-affiliated groups.
States Project co-founders Daniel Squadron and Adam Pritzker called the overall legislative results “difficult” in a statement, while also calling attention to Democrats “scoring important victories despite a difficult political environment.” Group spent 70 million dollars this cycle in state legislative races.
The statement cited Democrats making legislative gains in two states, North Carolina and Wisconsin, as they sought to reduce the Republicans’ large advantages.
Wisconsin – where new legislative maps It was expected to shift the balance of power in a Legislature that had been dominated by Republicans for more than a decade — Democrats won at least 10 seats in the state Assembly and at least three seats in the state Senate. According to AP.
Those gains eliminated the possibility of a GOP majority in the Legislature, allowing Democrats to prevent a Republican impeachment of Gov. Tony Evers.
In North Carolina, too, Democrats won enough seats to chip away at the Republican supermajority, giving Democratic Governor-elect Josh Stein an important veto in the conservative Legislature.
But the effort failed in Kansas, where Democratic-aligned groups aimed to cut off the GOP’s legislative reach. According to the AP, Republicans are on track to dominate the Kansas Legislature.
According to AP projections, Democrats lost their legislative advantages in New York and Vermont, while Republicans gained a majority in South Carolina.