Just as exciting as the national results, Democrats at the state level made significant gains.
Perhaps none as dramatic as now-Indigo Blue New Hampshire:
New Hampshire Democrats emerged from Tuesday's elections more powerful than they've been in 94 years . . . Victories by (Lynch, Shea-Porter and Hodes) marked the first time since 1912 that Democrats were elected to three of the state's top five seats. . . . Though Democrats have won five of the last six gubernatorial elections, Republicans have long dominated the congressional delegation and Legislature. . . . The last time Democrats controlled the state Senate was 1998, but their 13-11 advantage ended the next year with the death of Democratic Senate President Clesson Blaisdell. In the House, Democrats haven't been in charge since 1922.
Shea-Porter was trashed by a Rahm-backed candidate in the primary and prevailed. Then left to the wolves, she prevailed against a 2-time incumbent. Amazing!
But this is a post about state legislatures. And in New Hampshire, that House pickup is particularly significant considering that they went from 253 R, 147 D in the lower chamber to a Democratic majority of 213 seats with 34 seats still being counted.
That's at least 66 seats, with a 100-seat swing theoretically possible. And it's the first time Democrats have held the chamber since 1922.
The state Senate went into election day 16 R, 8D. After a six-seat pickup, its now 14D, 10R. And Gov. Lynch won in record-breaking fashion, 74-26.
But it's not just New Hampshire. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the unsung and oft forgotten companion to the DNC, DSCC, and DCCC, touted the national Democratic wave:
The two major parties are no longer locked in parity in state legislatures. Wresting control from the GOP in all the chambers that changed hands outright, the Democrats now control the legislatures in more states than they have since 1994. And not since that election year have all the chamber switches gone one way.
As of 7 a.m. MT, Democrats control both houses of the legislature in 23 states; Republicans in 15, and nine are split. Final counts aren't available yet for three chambers in two states: the Montana House and Senate and the Pennsylvania House. This adds up to 49 states because Nebraska's legislature is nonpartisan.
Before the election, Republicans controlled 20 state legislatures; Democrats 19, and 10 were split.
Democrats won approximately 275 more state legislative seats, adding up to new majorities in nine chambers across the nation: the Iowa House and Senate, the Indiana House, the Minnesota House, the Michigan House, the New Hampshire House and Senate, the Oregon House and the Wisconsin Senate. (The Iowa Senate was previously tied.)
Republicans gained a few seats in the Oklahoma Senate to tie that chamber, but Democrats will likely control it because the lieutenant governor, who casts deciding votes, is a Democrat.
"The voters expressed a real desire for change, and all in one direction," said NCSL's elections expert Tim Storey. "The Democrats have put some light between the two parties. This isn't parity anymore."
The Republicans made a fierce counter-attack on the Colorado legislature, which they lost in spectacular fashion in 2004 (as documented in Crashing the Gate). Same in Montana, though results there aren't finished. Yet all across the nation, Republicans have thus far failed to wrestle a single chamber from Republicans.
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