The historic blue wave that delivered control of dozens of state legislative chambers to Democrats last week has prompted warnings about overconfidence. Newly elected Sen. Adam Hamilton of Kansas cautioned that the surge could relapse if Democrats do not focus on delivering results, while commentators in the Virginia Mercury argued exit polls showed the vote was less a vote for Democrats than a referendum against President Donald Trump and a GOP Congress that failed to protect the public from his actions.
Context from the sources underscores the scale of the victory. Democrats flipped more than 500 state legislative seats on Tuesday, winning control of at least a dozen chambers and establishing new governing trifectas in Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nevada. They captured chambers in Texas, Georgia and North Carolina, states long dominated by Republican lawmakers. The party won more seats than in any year since the post-Watergate campaign of 1974, marking the most seismic shift in state power since the Republican wave of 2010.
“We had a generational opportunity to shift the power in our states and to affect change and we did just that,” said Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams. “We ran the table.” Wisconsin Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer, expected to become speaker, said the party plans to use this power to deliver for the people of the state and demonstrate that government can be a force for good.
Minnesota Republican strategist Gregg Peppin said voters were more fed up with Donald Trump than with fraud scandals under Democratic governance. Illinois state Rep. Dan Ugaste, one of the Republicans who lost his seat, said Democrats would not have to work toward the middle on legislation. He attributed GOP losses in part to higher Democratic turnout and also pointed to economic frustration and unmet expectations from the Trump administration.
In Arizona, Rep. Oscar De Los Santos, poised to become speaker, said the party has a robust agenda ready. “We have sixty years of pent-up ideas that we have not been able to move,” he said, pointing to bans on corporate landlords buying homes, surveillance pricing crackdowns, and reining in the state’s universal education voucher program, which allows families to use taxpayer dollars for private school tuition and other education-related expenses. He said those funds would be redirected to public schools.
The results also pad Democratic supermajorities in deep blue states. In New York, the party is on track for its biggest state Senate majority since 1846. In Illinois, Republicans lost at least eight seats, expanding Democrats’ supermajority in both chambers. Democrats now control a narrow majority of at least 51 state legislative chambers, up from 29 when Trump first took office in 2016, according to the DLCC.
Checked
12 claims in this story checked against 3 sources: 9 supported.
Show each claim
- SupportedDemocrats gained state power in the elections.Politics: “Democrats flipped more than 500 state legislative seats and won control of at least a dozen legislative chambers”
- Partly supportedAdam Hamilton is a newly elected senator, rather than a senator-elect.Washington Examiner: “Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton (D-KS) warned his party on Monday”
- Partly supportedMultiple Virginia commentators said the wave was less a vote for Democrats than a referendum against Trump and the GOP Congress.Virginia Mercury: “It is clear from Tuesday’s exit polls conducted by NBC News and other media groups that this was not so much a vote for Democrats as it was a referendum against a deeply disliked Republican president and a GOP Congress that failed to protect the public from his capricious, harmful actions.”
- Partly supportedThe blue wave delivered control of dozens of state legislative chambers to Democrats last week.Politics: “Democrats flipped more than 500 state legislative seats and won control of at least a dozen legislative chambers”
- SupportedHamilton warned that the blue wave could relapse if Democrats do not focus on delivering results.Washington Examiner: “cautioning that the blue wave could relapse if Democrats do not focus on delivering results.”
- SupportedDemocrats flipped more than 500 state legislative seats on Tuesday.Politics: “Democrats flipped more than 500 state legislative seats and won control of at least a dozen legislative chambers”
- SupportedDemocrats established new governing trifectas in Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nevada.Politics: “establishing new governing trifectas in Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nevada.”
- SupportedHeather Williams said, “We ran the table.”Politics: ““We had a generational opportunity to shift the power in our states and to affect change and we did just that,” Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams said. “ We ran the table. It's amazing.””
- SupportedNew York Democrats are on track for their biggest state Senate majority since 1846.Politics: “In New York, Democrats are on track for their biggest state Senate majority since 1846, when they were running against the Whigs.”
- SupportedOscar De Los Santos said, “We have sixty years of pent-up ideas that we have not been able to move.”Politics: ““We have sixty years of pent-up ideas that we have not been able to move,” he said.”
- SupportedRepublicans lost at least eight seats in the Illinois General Assembly.Politics: “Republicans lost at least eight seats in the Illinois General Assembly, including six held by sitting lawmakers and two open seats.”
- SupportedDemocrats control at least 51 state legislative chambers, up from 29 when Trump first took office in 2016, according to the DLCC.Politics: “they now control a narrow majority of at least 51 state legislative chambers, up from 29 when Trump first took office in 2016, according to the DLCC.”