Democrats Gain Over 300 GOP-Held State Legislative Seats In 2018 Midterms

While the “blue wave” was not as powerful as some may have liked, the 2018 midterm election was nevertheless a good one for the Democratic party.

DEMOCRATS SCORE 300+ SEATS HELD BY REPUBLICANS

Democrats notably retook the House of Representatives during the midterm election, a branch of government they have not held since 2010. In total, the party gained over 300 state legislative seats, seven governorships and the majority of the nation’s attorney general offices. Given the nature of these pickups, the Democratic party will soon be able to directly mitigate the policies imposed by President Donald Trump and the Republican party in many of those states. State legislatures also draft voting districts for both the U.S. House and state legislatures so Democrats will have a far greater say in the process than did 2010 after Republicans swept the midterms.

The United States has 51 attorney generals – one per each state plus the District of Columbia – and over half now belong to the Democrats. Within the past couple of years, Democratic attorney generals have worked together to discuss the legal challenges posed by Trump, filling numerous lawsuits against the administration over the past 18 months. Many of these are focused on blocking Trump from adversely affecting the Affordable Care Act.

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Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic attorney general, said, “There is going to be gridlock in Washington that is going to rule the day. But what is clear is that the attorneys general will actually be working to get things done… protecting people, individual rights and being the only effective check on the federal government.”

Zack Roday, the Republican Attorneys General Association’s communications director, explained the election results were “a natural” rebalancing after his party’s years of control over these bodies. “This is a reflection of the environment and to the fact these states had been under Republican control for a long time, and these races… ebb and flow,” later adding that Republican nominees did win close races in Florida, Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina and South Dakota.