The blue wave that swept Republicans from power throughout the United States did not only affect Congress. In Tuesday’s midterm elections, Democrats gained hundreds of seats in state legislatures across the country, under-the-radar victories that may have major implications for life in America. Although votes are still being counted, the party’s success appears to be historic: Democrats have not won full control of the government in Arizona in 60 years, in Pennsylvania since the 1990s, and in Wisconsin since its elimination in 2010. In Michigan and Minnesota, they took back losses after the 2024 elections, while in Texas they will control the state house for the first time since 2002. The victories are so large that most Americans will live in states with a governor Democrat, and in several states where the party has been locked out of power for years, if not decades, Democrats are expected to embark on aggressive legislative sprees that will have nationwide implications. “This was the most significant night for the state legislature since the seismic Republican wave in “Democrats now have more power in the states than at any time in the 21st century. So we really are looking at a fundamentally new legislative playing field,” Meyers said. Supporters react to Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms’ victory in Atlanta, Georgia. Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters State legislatures have taken on enormous importance in recent years, as repeated meetings of the US Congress have been mired in partisan gridlock that has left both parties’ priorities unaddressed. Red states have taken decisive steps to ban abortion, expand self-defense rights, and pursue right-wing cultural causes such as the outlawing of sharia law. Where Democrats govern, they have passed laws raising the minimum wage, preserving access to abortion, fighting the climate crisis, and regulating immigration enforcement. After Tuesday’s election wave – one of the biggest electoral collapses Republicans have suffered in decades – Democrats will now have the opportunity to work through a long list of priorities and promises made to voters. referring to states where Democrats have won governing trifectas or are on track to do so as results are finalized. The party also won gubernatorial elections over Republicans in Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio and Texas, giving them control of a majority of governorships for the first time since 2010. “More Democratic governors mean a better life for the millions of Americans who live in our states,” said Democratic Governors Association leaders Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. in a statement. Maia Whitt of the Unity Rising USA PAC hands out information for Democratic voters as people wait to cast their ballots at Arizona State University in Tempe. Photograph: Rebecca Noble/Reuters In total, Democrats won 258 state legislative seats across the country, created six new governing trifectas, reclaimed 11 legislative chambers from the GOP and broke Republican supermajorities in 10 states, according to Nuttycombe. Although not all races have been called, he predicts that about 76% of the country’s population will live under a Democratic governor, and about half will be represented by one of the party’s legislators in their legislature. The result appears to follow the beating Republicans suffered in the US Congress, where Democrats are on track to win a majority of at least 54 seats in the Senate and 237 seats in the House, both largest margins for any party in years. A major factor in the destruction of the Republican Party is the unpopularity of Donald Trump, whom most Republican lawmakers clung to even when polls indicated that voters did not support his immigration crackdown, tariffs, war with Iran and his domestic policy bill. “This wave is attributable to the economy and people’s dissatisfaction with the president; probably about 80%, 85% of what’s driving this is that,” Nuttycombe said. “And the rest may be attitudes toward state government and government in general. There is a lot of resentment against the rulers, mainly toward the Republicans in power.” Amy Acton celebrates her victory at the ‘Ohio Wins’ Democratic election night party in Columbus. Photograph: James D DeCamp/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock For Democrats who will take control of Congress after the new year, the most pressing question is whether these new governing trifectas will join the national redistricting war that Trump started last year, when he encouraged Texas’ Republican state government to approve new maps that are expected to cost Democrats seats in the US House of Representatives. Democrats chose to withdraw after their seats were redrawn; none of those seeking re-election lost to the Republicans. At least one incoming state legislative leader says they are ready to approve a new design under their new Democratic trifecta. “We’re going to look at congressional redistricting,” Greta Neubauer, who will lead the Wisconsin state Assembly after Democrats won a 53-seat majority, said on a call with reporters Wednesday. “We have gerrymandered maps in Wisconsin. They favor Republicans to a significant degree, and we know other states will consider redistricting efforts in the coming months. The future will try to further entrench Republican power, so we will consider a congressional redistricting effort in Wisconsin.” It’s part of what he said was a “big list” of priorities for a party that Republicans placed firmly in the minority in 2010 and set out to make Wisconsin a laboratory for conservative policies, despite its tradition as a purple state. Neubauer said measures to expand Medicaid or other public health care options, as well as access to free school meals, both policies that Republican leaders in the legislature have opposed, will also be under consideration by the incoming Democratic majority. The same year Republicans swept Wisconsin, they also took full control of state government in North Carolina, ending more than a century of nearly unbroken Democratic dominance. On Tuesday, the party regained a majority in the lower chamber of its legislature and closed the gap in the Republican-controlled state Senate, although counting continues in close races. The GOP has now lost the supermajorities they used to overturn the will of the state’s recent Democratic governors, but will still have a significant grip on power. Tiffany Reynolds-Richardson, executive director of Lillian’s List, which endorsed seven candidates who helped Democrats win the state House, said it nonetheless represents a paradigm shift in North Carolina, which has had some of the most bitterly partisan state politics in the country. “Republicans are going to have to take the buck now, right?” Reynolds-Richardson said. “To get what they want or what they need, they’re going to have to play with the Democrats now.”
