Beyond Washington, Republicans Seize Control of State Capitals

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Heritage Foundation:

The Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate may have been the biggest election news. But the most consequential storyline resonates beyond Washington and into the heart of the country, as Americans delivered Republicans firm control of the nation’s state capitals.

 

Republicans picked up Democratic-held governorships in traditionally liberal states such as Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois, and gained full power in at least eight state legislatures. The victories gave Republicans a wide palette to impart their agenda.

 

“States are where American policy change has been going on … and Republicans are in a much stronger position to advance their agenda.”

 

With President Obama vowing to pursue his agenda over the final two years of his term, Republicans are counting on states to take the lead on policymaking—far away from Capitol Hill gridlock—and actually impact people’s lives.

 

“There is no doubt the Republican wave leaves them in the strongest position in the states in close to 100 years, if not more,” said Tim Storey, an elections analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures, in an interview with The Daily Signal.

 

“It’s hard to imagine Washington working together. I guess pigs fly maybe,” he added. “States are where American policy change has been going on for several years now, and Republicans are in a much stronger position to advance their agenda.”

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Republicans trounce Democrats in legislative races from coast-to-coast

 

 

Republicans swept into control of the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, but that only begins to tell the story of a mid-term election that turned into an electoral rout.

 

From Nevada to New Hampshire, Republicans won resounding victories in state-level elections that swept more GOP lawmakers into state capitols and flipped control of at least eight legislative chambers. Combined with unexpected victories in gubernatorial races in Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts, the Republicans are poised to control a higher percentage of state governments than at any point in the past 25 years.

 

With a few dozen state legislative races still undecided on Wednesday afternoon, Republicans have scored a net gain of more than 250 seats across the nation’s 99 legislative chambers, according to an analysis by Ballotpedia, which tracks state-level elections.

 

REPUBLICANS RISING: Already in control of a majority of state legislative chambers before Tuesday, the GOP expanded its dominance and now control two-thirds of all state lawmaking bodies.

 

“Across the board, what we’re seeing is that chambers flipped from Democratic control to Republican control,” said Geoff Pallay, director of strategic projects for the Lucy Burns Institute, the Wisconsin-based think tank that runs Ballotpedia. “There were some that we expected to see and others that were real surprises.”

Republicans took the majority in nine of those chambers – winning the Colorado Senate, Maine Senate, the Minnesota House, Nevada House and Senate, the New Hampshire House, the New Mexico House, the New York Senate, and the West Virginia House. The GOP is set to control at least 64 legislative chambers.

 

http://watchdog.org/181775/republicans-state-legislature-elections/