Democrats gained control of state legislatures across the US in the midterm elections, overturning years of Republican dominance and opening the way for changes to laws on abortion, healthcare, education and taxation.
Democrats are expected to hold a 24-to-22 advantage in state legislatures, with several contests still being counted. Before the elections, Republicans controlled legislatures in 28 states, compared with 18 controlled by Democrats, while the remainder were divided.
The shift includes major breakthroughs in Pennsylvania, Texas and Georgia. Pennsylvania elected a Democratic majority in its state Senate for the first time since Jimmy Carter was president, while Democrats will run the Texas House for the first time in 24 years.
Georgia’s House also moved to Democratic control for the first time in more than two decades. Democrats made gains in almost every state that held legislative elections, including traditionally Republican states such as Utah and Florida.
Democrats gain six state ‘trifectas’
The most significant changes are in states where Democrats now control both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s office. The party gained six such “trifectas”.
In Arizona, Democrats will control the House, Senate and governor’s office for the first time since 1966. The change could allow Governor Katie Hobbs to pursue reforms to the state’s billion-dollar school voucher programme, which uses public money to fund private-school tuition regardless of family income.
Republicans in the legislature had previously blocked Ms Hobbs’s attempts to reform and limit the scheme. Arizona Democrats have also said they want to provide financial help with rent, utilities and childcare.
In Pennsylvania, Governor Josh Shapiro has pledged to work with the new Democratic legislature to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, strengthen abortion rights and increase affordable housing.
Democrats also secured trifectas in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nevada, where they won the governor’s office. They broke Republican trifectas in Georgia, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio and Texas.
The party is expected to have 22 trifectas, compared with 17 for Republicans, while 10 states will have divided government. The figures do not include Nebraska, where Republicans control both the governorship and the unicameral legislature.
Republican majorities weakened
In Georgia, North Carolina and Texas, Democrats turned Republican-controlled legislatures into divided bodies. In Georgia, they won the House and came close to taking the Senate.
Georgia Democrats could seek to persuade Republican senators to support an expansion of Medicaid, which would extend healthcare coverage to more low-income residents. House Democrats may also try to repeal the state’s six-week abortion ban, although that would face opposition in the Senate.
Democrats won control of North Carolina’s House. A Republican candidate is leading by just over 200 votes in a Senate race that is likely to go to a recount; the result will determine whether Republicans retain a one-seat majority or the chamber is tied.
A tied Senate would give the Democratic lieutenant governor the casting vote. Democrats are expected to seek the reversal of some abortion restrictions, while Governor Josh Stein has called on both parties to address affordability concerns.
In six states, Democrats did not take control of Republican-held chambers but gained enough seats to remove veto-proof Republican supermajorities. That could give Democratic governors greater leverage to block Republican-backed measures in states including North Carolina, Ohio and Kansas.
The Republican State Legislative Committee attributed its losses to a national anti-incumbent mood and heavy Democratic spending. Its president, Edith Jorge-Tuñón, said the results showed the challenges facing Republicans and the need for a “strong, sustained presence in the states”.
Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said the victories “proved what is possible when you put statehouses at the center of a national strategy”.
