Democrats Set to Take Over Full Government Control in 4 States After Midterms

Democrats are set to take full control of government in four states after a surprisingly good midterm performance on Tuesday, The Week reports.

Democrats were able to flip state legislatures in Minnesota and Michigan in Tuesday’s elections after district maps that were gerrymandered by Republicans were redrawn earlier this year.

With Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer winning re-election, Democrats now have full control of the state government in Michigan for the first time since 1982 and Minnesota since 2016.

"Republicans had everything in their favor: record fundraising and a midterm political environment under a Democratic president, and they have little to show for it," Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee president Jessica Post said Wednesday. "This election should have been a landslide for Republicans — instead Democrats fended off the so-called 'red wave' in the states and gained critical ground for the decade ahead."

Massachusetts and Maryland:

With Democrat Maura Healey winning the Massachusetts governor’s race and Democrat Wes Moore winning the Maryland governor’s race, Democrats now also have full control in both states.

But Republicans still control a majority of state legislatures after flipping 21 chambers in the 2010 midterms.

"Last night was a surprisingly good showing for Democrats in statehouses, especially since their gains combat the notion that the president's party always loses ground during midterms," said Wendy Underhill, director of elections and redistricting at the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures. But "Republicans continue to absolutely dominate the 50-state landscape, as they have since 2010."

Wisconsin:

While Michigan and Minnesota redrew lines to make maps more fair, Wisconsin’s Republican-dominated legislature doubled-down on their 2010 gerrymander last year.

Wisconsin Democrats appear to have prevented Republicans from winning a supermajority in the state, which would have given them veto-proof power to go around Democratic Gov. Toney Evers, but they won fewer than 40% of the seats despite winning 51% of the total vote.

Evers vetoed nearly 150 bills GOP bills during his first term.

 

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