After much fanfare of a blue-wave sweeping down-ballot into state legislative races, little change occurred. National Democratic groups such as the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) and Forward Majority pledged to spend upwards of $50 million on key state legislative races in order to flip a number of state legislative chambers. Defying all national expectations, Republicans fended off Democratic challenges in every state, and even flipped two state legislative chambers.
After the November 3 elections, Republicans appear to now control 61 of the 99 chambers, with Democrats controlling 37 of the 99 chambers (Nebraska has a unicameral, non-partisan legislative chamber). The 2020 Election will go down as the cycle with the fewest state party control changes since 1944, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures.
In several states President-elect Biden carried, such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, state Democrats failed to flip the state chambers. Notably, one of Democrats’ top targets, the Minnesota Senate, maintained its Republican majority despise President-elect Biden defeating President Trump by over seven points. It is clear in many states, voters are not necessarily straight-ticket voters and are unafraid to split their vote for one party up and down the ballot. At the same time, it’s worth noting how many state legislatures are controlled by one party, with only one state, Minnesota, splitting control between Republicans and Democrats.
Beyond the presidential election, 2020 was a critical year for states as next year, several state legislatures will be responsible for redrawing their state’s congressional districts. While some states have handed their redistricting process over to independent or non-partisan commissions, many have not. Republicans now have total control over the congressional district lines for 181 districts, compared to 76 districts fully controlled by Democrats.
After all the hype and high expectations from Democratic groups, the 2020 election will go down, on the state level, as a cycle with little change.
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