Democrats Are Getting Aggressive In Trying To Flip State Legislatures

Democrats battle aggressively for control of state capitals across the country, with a focus on Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

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If the Harris for President press releases haven’t convinced a traumatized Democratic party that this is a New Democratic Party, this might finish the job.

There are nearly 6,000 state legislative races up for grabs this November. For a long time, Republicans have dominated these races, filling state legislatures up with conservatitves, too many of whom are more than willing to commit malpractice in their duty to the people.

In fact, Republicans control 57 legislative chambers, while Democrats control 41 (Pennsylvania’s legislature is split and Nebraska’s unicameral legislature is nonpartisan). But Democrats are quietly waging an aggressive battle to change that. Democrats are reportedly eyeing up control of state capitals across the country, with a focus on Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Associate director of elections and redistricting at the National Conference of State Legislatures Ben Williams said while Republicans are pushing as well to turn Democratic states into divided government and are expected to keep control in the majority of the legislatures, he sees 10 competitive chambers to keep an eye on, as reported by the Maine Morning Star, “(T)he Arizona House, Arizona Senate, Michigan House, Minnesota House, New Hampshire House, New Hampshire Senate, Pennsylvania House, Pennsylvania Senate, Wisconsin House and the Wisconsin Senate,” while “Only three governor’s races — in New Hampshire, North Carolina and Washington — are characterized as competitive.”

Continued:

If the elections turn out to be a red wave, with Republicans making significant gains across the board, NCSL expects the Democratic-controlled House and Senate chambers in Delaware, Maine, Nevada and Oregon to be in play.

Conversely, if Democrats do well nationally, the GOP-controlled chambers in Alaska and Georgia could be competitive.

“Democrats are plotting an overlooked but aggressive campaign to reshape the power dynamics in state capitals across the country,” the Washington Examiner reported based on disucssions with all four delegates at the DNC. “Both sides are waging battles for legislative control in states like Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin, where just a handful of races could make a difference. And they are putting millions of dollars behind their efforts.”

Take a look at a map courtesy of the NCSL (where you can also check your state):

You can see from that map that there’s a lot of work to be done and certainly belies the fact that there are more registered Democrats than there are Republicans.