Democratic gains at the state level will pay dividends for the party for quite a while.
When one party holds a state’s governor’s office and both of its state legislative chambers, the partisan control is generally known as a “trifecta.” And in recent years, Republicans have racked up more than a few of them, while Democrats have had very few.
Yesterday, that changed.
Going into Election Day 2018, there were 26 GOP trifectas and just 8 Democratic trifectas. Yesterday, that total went down for Republicans and nearly doubled for Dems. Vox took note of some of the more notable changes for the “blue” team:
Among the other new Democratic trifectas are Maine, Illinois, New Mexico, and Nevada. As things stand, the party’s total has gone from 8 before yesterday to 14, including all of the continental West coast.
And while Republicans appear to have gained a trifecta in Alaska, the GOP also lost their stronghold in Kansas (where Democrat Laura Kelly won the gubernatorial race), Michigan (where Gretchen Whitmer won the gubernatorial race), Wisconsin (where Tony Evers won the gubernatorial race), and New Hampshire (where Democrats flipped both the state House and state Senate).
This is about far more than bragging rights and electoral trivia. As Vox’s piece added:
And as notable as the trifectas are, they’re emblematic of significant Democratic gains in state legislatures nationwide. Though votes are still being tallied, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee sent an alert to reporters two hours ago noting that Dems have “regained majorities in seven chambers and flipped 350 seats from red to blue nationwide.”
This probably won’t be the kind of story that dominates national headlines, but it’s a development that will pay dividends for Democrats for quite a while.
