Blue Wave Guts GOP Statehouse Power

The blue wave didn’t stop at the Capitol — it rolled through the statehouses, flipping 12 legislative chambers, dismantling five Republican trifectas and breaking 11 GOP supermajorities, with Democrats on track to control 51 of the nation’s 99 legislative chambers if current leads hold. Axios: Democrats are on track to take control of a majority of legislative chambers, ending 16 years of Republican dominance over America’s statehouses. If current leads hold, 75% of Americans will live in a state with a Democratic governor, and 53% will live in Democratic trifectas. Why it matters: Statehouses are the front line of American federalism, and Tuesday’s gains dramatically expand Democrats’ power to increase minimum wages, protect abortion access, and set voting rules ahead of 2028 for most Americans. (Axios)

Texas shows how deep it cut: if results hold, Democrats take the state House 83–67 — a chamber Republicans have held since 2003 — while the state Senate holds at 19 Republicans to 12 Democrats

Texas Tribune: Democrats entered the night with 62 of the House’s 150 seats, needing to flip 14 to claim the majority. By early Wednesday afternoon, the Associated Press had called 11 Republican-held seats in their favor, and GOP incumbents had conceded in three others. Democrats led in at least seven other GOP districts where all Election Day returns had come in — positioning them to net 21 seats, barring changes from recounts or provisional and mail-in ballots that could still be tallied. (Texas Tribune)

Washington got the headlines. The statehouses got the power — voting rules, wages and abortion law for most of the country, set just in time for 2028.