Republicans Carry Ballot Gains to State Houses
The New York Times
The Republicans’ election dominance carried into state legislatures, where the party made gains in Minnesota, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Vermont. Democrats, though, broke the G.O.P. supermajority in North Carolina.
Buoyed by strong election showings on the national level, Republicans appear poised to break up Democratic control of state governments in Minnesota and Michigan, and possibly take full control of the Pennsylvania legislature.
Coupled with unexpected gains in Democratic strongholds like Vermont, the results of Tuesday’s elections point to a strengthening of the Republican Party’s grip on power at the state level. If the current returns hold, Republicans would have a state government trifecta — control of the governor’s office and both legislative chambers — in 23 states. Democrats would have 15, a loss of two from the last election cycle.
“Republicans appear to have translated their good night at the top of the ticket to state legislative races as well,” Bill Kramer, vice president and counsel of MultiState, a state and local government relations firm, wrote in a post-election analysis on Wednesday.
Democrats did appear to break the Republican supermajority in the North Carolina legislature. And they were hopeful of gaining one seat in the Arizona Senate, which would create a 15-15 tie and give Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, more leverage. They also made noticeable gains in Wisconsin, after the State Supreme Court threw out Wisconsin’s gerrymandered legislative maps.
Yet despite record spending, Democrats fell short of their goal of building on their successes in the 2022 midterm elections to flip several chambers.
One branch of state government that did not see any change in overall party numbers was the governor’s office. Out of 11 states with races on Tuesday, eight were wide open, with no incumbent running. But there were no upsets, and the current configuration of eight Republicans and three Democrats in those states did not change.
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