Democrats gained total control of at least five state governments on Tuesday, giving the party a level of power it hasn’t held in some of those places in years.The party won so-called trifectas — taking the governor’s office and both legislative chambers — in Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to The Associated Press.The victories are the latest marker of an overwhelmingly successful midterm election for the party.In addition to sweeping control of both chambers of Congress, Democrats won a majority of governorships for the first time in 16 years, with Republicans long dominating at the state level.Now, Democrats will have the ability to fundamentally change the local policy agenda, including in several presidential battleground states.
“This was the most significant night for state legislatures since the seismic Republican wave in 2010,” said Mandara Meyers, the executive director of The States Project, a Democratic-aligned group that works to build the party’s power in state legislatures.The group was one of several to spend millions to boost Democratic gains in state legislative chambers.
In Wisconsin, Democrats clawed back full control of state government for the first time in 16 years, flipping the state Assembly and Senate while holding on to the governor’s mansion.Those gains were partly the product of the state’s new legislative maps that went into effect after the state Supreme Court struck down the previous Republican-drawn lines in 2024.
Democrats needed to flip two seats for a majority in the Senate and five in the Assembly but ended up with far more in both chambers.In another key swing state, Pennsylvania, Democrats flipped far more than the three seats they needed in the state Senate to retake the chamber, while also expanding on what had been a one-seat edge in the state Assembly, handing the re-elected Gov.Josh Shapiro a powerful tool for his second term.
It’s Democrats’ first trifecta in Pen...