Democrats who swept to power in Tuesday's midterm elections are pledging to use their new statehouse majorities to bring down living costs, protect abortion rights, tighten gun laws and expand housing, after flipping hundreds of seats in state legislatures and winning a majority of governorships for the first time since 2010.
The results also give Democratic state leaders more leverage to resist President Donald Trump, said Marc Farinella, a senior advisor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. That could mean pushing back on immigration enforcement or using state money to backfill Medicaid and food stamps after deep federal cuts, he said, while the scale of Republican losses could free some GOP lawmakers to drift back toward the center.
The path is clearest in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where Democrats newly hold both legislative chambers and the governor's office. Newly divided governments in Iowa, Ohio, Georgia and Texas could instead bog down.
Full control in key states
In Pennsylvania, Democrats captured the state Senate for the first time since 1978 as Gov. Josh Shapiro won reelection. He and legislative Democrats plan to revive bills that cleared the House but died in the Republican Senate, including a $15 minimum wage, codified abortion rights, a path for sexual abuse survivors to sue their abusers and more mass transit money.
Arizona Democrats, set to control state government in Phoenix for the first time in 60 years, are centering on affordability. Nancy Gutierrez, the assistant House minority leader, said her caucus wants to bar grocery stores from using dynamic pricing to gouge shoppers, limit rent increases, restrict corporate home purchases and rein in a program that uses public money for private school tuition.
In New Hampshire, Democrats flipped both chambers and appear to hold veto-proof supermajorities, sharply limiting the power of reelected Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte. State Rep. Christal Lloyd said she wants state funds to offset federal Medicaid cuts and more education aid to ease property taxes. Democrats also won full control of the body that approves state contracts and vets the governor's nominees, which has pledged to fund Planned Parenthood.
Divided capitals ahead
Texas Democrats, who had not won a statewide office since 1994, swept every statewide race and flipped the state House. Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa has promised to declare a high-cost emergency and issue executive orders suspending state gas and diesel taxes and freezing electricity rates.
Senate Republicans, who kept control of the upper chamber, have vowed to oppose her, a promise state Sen. Charles Schwertner posted on X Tuesday night.
Texas stands as long as the Texas Senate Republican caucus holds the line,
Charles Schwertner, Republican Texas state senator
In Georgia, Democrats appear poised to end more than two decades of Republican control of the state House. They needed to flip 10 seats to reach 91 in the 180-member chamber, and six races remained undecided as of 5 p.m. Wednesday. House Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican, noted that several key seats were still within the recount margin.
Minority Leader Carolyn Hugley, a member since 1993, plans to seek the speakership and would be the first Black person and first woman to hold it. Governor-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms is set to become the state's first Democratic governor since 2003, but Republicans are expected to keep a slim Senate majority.
North Carolina Democrats, who already held the governor's office, flipped the state House, while Republicans kept the Senate by two seats. Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University, said stalemate is the likelier outcome, noting the GOP has already passed much of its agenda and overridden a dozen of Democratic Gov. Josh Stein's vetoes.
In Missouri, the GOP held its House majority but lost its supermajority after dropping 16 seats, its worst showing since Watergate. Republicans there are rethinking their agenda under incoming House Majority Leader Darin Chappell, and other GOP lawmakers said they needed to focus more on affordability.
