DLCC Chair Gronstal is interviewed by The Texas Blue Texas Blue - 1/30/2008 - Listen Here
Health Group, Dems say GOP senators lost over tax swap vote Associated Press - 11/7/2007
Sheila Byrd
So complete was the Democratic rout in the 2006 midterm elections that the party even gained legislative influence in Alaska, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming -- states dominated by the Republicans... Read More
With eight days to go until Election Day, governor's races in Mississippi and Kentucky are all but over, and with the presidential campaign sucking most of the oxygen from the room and the Louisiana governor's race already decided, 2007 looks to be a year that provides few strong electoral story lines. But with a host of top-tier races and the possibility that control of the State Senate could flip - Read More
Democratic mid-term gains affecting policy Stateline.org - 8/2/2007
Louis Jacobson
So complete was the Democratic rout in the 2006 midterm elections that the party even gained legislative influence in Alaska, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming -- states dominated by the Republicans... Read More
Michael Davies interview The Texas Blue - 4/18/2007
Josh Berthume
Josh Berthume The Texas Blue's Josh Berthume interviews DLCC Executive Director Michael Davies about Democratic trends in state houses nationwide, what the DLCC does, and why state legislative elections are important. Listen here
The Hidden State Legislative Victories The Democratic Strategist - 4/2007
By Michael Davies
While the state legislative elections are not covered to the extent that control of the U.S. House or Senate is, control of these 98 state chambers has a long-term impact on national Democratic success. Here's why smart strategists are looking to the state elections:... Read more
It wasn't a dream THE PHOENIX- 12/28/06
By David S. Bernstein
It's hard to overstate the size and scope of the Democratic Party's gains in the 2006 elections, which will be realized next week when the winners are sworn into office at the national, state, and local levels. Read more
Democrats - "Power of the Ballot Box" CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY - 12/18/06
By Rachel Kapochunas
Democrats, as they did at the congressional level, made significant gains in this year's state legislative....Read more
Politics - The Game Plan NATIONAL JOURNAL - 12/16/06
By Reid Wilson
Howard Dean won his 2005 campaign to chair the Democratic National Committee largely by pledging to give more attention -- and more money -- to the states. Read more
Power shifts in several states as Democrats
gain legislative seats USA TODAY, 11/8/2006
By Dennis Cauchon
Democrats scored big gains in state legislatures Tuesday,
a movement that could have implications in state policy
and national politics. Read
more
In Statehouses,
Too, Democrats Post Sizable Gains The New York Times, 11/9/06
By Kirk Johnson
Democratic gains in Congress
and governorships were matched on Tuesday by a surge
involving state legislatures, where more than 275 seats
and nine chambers switched from Republican to Democratic
hands. Read
more
State houses
could shift to
Democrats Reuters,
11/6/06
By
Karen
Pierog
U.S. state legislatures head into Tuesday’s
election almost even in terms of party control, with
Democrats poised to potentially shift the power base
in their favor, a change that can position them to
influence future elections. Read
more
National Parties
Pour Money Into Battles for State Legislatures Bloomberg, 11/6/06
By Darrell Preston
From war rooms on opposite sides of Washington’s
K Street, Democrats and Republicans are pouring money
and expertise into battles for about two dozen state
legislatures where majority control rides on tomorrow’s
elections. Read
more
Democrats Are Seen
to Gain in
Statehouse Races The
New
York Times,
10/31/06
By Kirk Johnson
More than 6,000 state legislative seats
in 46 states are on the Nov. 7 ballot, and like the
seismic state elections in 1994 and 1974 the cumulative
impact of the outcomes could be immense, with Democrats
possibly gaining control of a majority of state capitols
for the first time in a decade. Read
more
Statehouse power
at stake in
'06 Stateline.org,
10/30/06
By Eric Kelderman
The fight for control of Congress is
dominating the Nov. 7 election, but a high-priced battle
for control of the nation’s statehouses also
is being waged and promises to be a nail-biter in at
least 14 states. Read
more
State legislative
contests take
on new importance USA Today,
10/22/06
By Kathy Kiely
For the first time since 1994, Democrats
are poised to surpass Republicans in the number of
state capitals where one party enjoys complete political
control — holding the governor's mansion and
both chambers of the state legislature. Read
more USA
Today: Fight for control of state capitals heats up
The Race to Gerrymander Washington Monthly, 11/06
By Rachel Morris
Michigan isn’t the only place where state elections
have become infused with national ambitions. Since
June, when the U.S. Supreme Court largely upheld Tom
DeLay’s audacious mid-decade redistricting of
Texas, many national Democrats have been turning their
attention to elections for state legislatures, which
in all but eight states draw the boundaries of congressional
seats according to the census. Read
more
Will GOP’s Congressional
Woes Hit Downballot? Roll Call, 10/17/06
By Louis Jacobson
Will the grim political environment for
the GOP on Capitol Hill — from the Iraq war to
the misdeeds of former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) — hamper
Republicans further down the ballot, too? The answer,
it seems, is quite possibly. Read
more
Parties
Finance State Legislature Races The Associated Press, 10/17/06
By Adam Geller
With the Republican and Democratic divide
almost even in the nation's state legislatures, the
parties are pouring money into often-overlooked races
that could tip the balance of power in several states.
That matters more than ever this election because of
the added flexibility courts have given legislatures
to redraw the boundaries of congressional districts. Read
more
Democrats Hope to
Swing State Legislatures Their Way The Washington
Post, 10/1/06
By Zachary A.
Goldfarb
Just as Democrats hope to shift the balance of power
in Congress this November, they are hoping to control
more state legislatures. Tim Storey of the nonpartisan
National Conference of State Legislatures said there
could be a seismic swing in the control of state legislatures
in favor of Democrats this fall because of an energized
Democratic base. Read more
DLCC, AFSCME, NCEC form coalition
to prepare Democrats for redistricting
CQ Politics.com,
8/18/06
DLCC Executive Director Michael Davies talks to Al Franken The Al Franken Show, Air
America Radio, 8/3/06
Michael Davies visited The Al Franken Show to discuss
the importance of state legislative races to the national
political picture, including how to protect against
mid-decade redistricting and how local activists can
change the course of politics in their state by getting
involved in the 2006 campaign.
State legislatures, always the undercard of the nation’s
elections, are suddenly important. The U.S. Supreme
Court’s ruling last month that
gave states broader powers to draw the political maps
defining control of Congress have added a new dimension
to legislative races. Read
More
Power Shift Looms For Many
Statehouses Wall Street Journal, Page A4, 7/6/06
By Christopher Cooper
With several statehouses controlled by razor-thin
edges, the potential for swings in power may be greater
at the state level than in Congress, where the struggle
for control gets more attention. Read
More
Ruling may incite redistricting
battles USA TODAY, 6/28/06
By Kathy Kiely
The Supreme Court’s decision Wednesday in a
controversial Texas redistricting case raises the possibility
of congressional districts being redrawn every time
a political party gains the upper hand in a state. Read
More
Politics: The Playmakers National Journal, 6/3/2006
By Reid Wilson
Democrats and Republicans have targeted 20 states
in which the legislature controls congressional redistricting
and where one chamber could change hands with the loss
of four seats or fewer. Read
More
Republicans
are losing special elections in places where they
usually win Governing Magazine, 5/2006
If 2006 turns out to be a Democratic year at the congressional
level, fueled by anti-Bush and anticorruption sentiments,
does that also suggest big Democratic gains in state
legislatures? Based on some recent special elections,
the answer would seem to be yes. Read
More
