State-Level Democrats Pull Off Big Wins in Key States

Despite top of the ticket losses, Democrats had key victories at the state house level that will help protect the rights of Americans over the next four years

Democratic candidates for state legislatures won big in several key swing states last week, showing Democrats voted solidly for down ballot candidates when faced with GOP control at the state level. Despite top of the ticket losses, state Democrats over performed, delivering crucial victories in state Houses where bodily autonomy and voting rights hang in the balance.

District level data is not yet available to thoroughly dissect each race, but some key results include:

• Pennsylvania Democrats have successfully secured enough seats to protect their crucial majority in the state House.

• In one of the highest-profile battlegrounds of the cycle, North Carolina Democrats are projected to gain enough seats to break the Republican supermajority in the House. This win restores the veto power for incoming Democratic Governor Josh Stein in that state.

• Democrats are projected to gain at least 10 seats in the Wisconsin Assembly and four seats in the Senate on new maps. This was the first election since 2011 that legislative races were held on non gerrymandered maps.

• In a majority-making special election, Democratic candidate Ann Johnson Stewart has emerged victorious, protecting the Minnesota Senate majority. While the full Minnesota Senate was not up this cycle, this seat in this special election was a must-win for defending the Democratic majority in the chamber.

• Kevin Volk, the Democratic candidate for Arizona Legislative District 17 that was featured in a MeidasTouch story, won his seat, defeating the Republican incumbent in a GOP-leaning district. Other results from Arizona are still coming in at time of writing.

The victories come after record investments in state-level races by the Democratic Party. This summer, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) launched the Summer of the States Program to highlight key races for state houses all over the country. 

While DLCC President Heather Williams called the results of last week overall "neutral," it's clear the critical wins, especially in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, showed that their hard work paid off.

"I would say our team, our leaders, our candidates, they were incredible," Williams said in an interview with MeidasTouch. "Much of it was the fact that these candidates were just engaging with voters, meeting them where they were having real, honest, authentic conversations." 

"We broke that super majority in North Carolina, giving Josh Stein the veto pen when he heads into office, which is, you know, a really meaningful thing," Williams said. "In Wisconsin...we picked up a bunch of seats, 10 in the assembly, four in the senate, which puts us in a prime position exactly where we wanted to be headed into 2026."

Williams believes the election was closer than many of the pundits are claiming it was, suggesting that a GOP landslide didn't occur in swing states, especially given the state house results.

"The red wave didn't exist. We're in a fairly neutral place, meaning half of Americans, nearly half of Americans had their rights protected by Democrats in the states pre-election and they still do post election."

"It's sort of a cycle like this where everyone's attention was federal, right? What I'm most proud of...we stayed really disciplined," she continued. Now that the 2024 election is passed, the DLCC is immediately turning next to contests in Virginia, Michigan and other states where special elections are upcoming, along with prepping for the midterm elections in 2026.

"We have a pretty good idea, right, of what's competitive next cycle. We head right into Virginia. We must protect the house. There's a governor's race there. So that will be critical for us in 2025," Williams said. "And then in 2026...the Michigan house is back on the ballot, the Pennsylvania house is back on the ballot."

"Wisconsin's in a really strong position to challenge that majority in 2026 and it'll be under Trump's presidency, right? With Republican federal control. And if past is prose, that tends to be a harder election for the party in power."