Stories from the States: The Stakes of the 2026 Midterms

The 2026 midterms are a generational opportunity to shift the balance of power in our country by unseating Republicans and building a durable blue firewall to Trump’s dangerous, anti-democratic agenda. From his federal intervention of state-run elections to threats to purge blue state voter rolls, we cannot take any votes for granted. 

The DLCC is all hands on deck to ensure all votes are counted and that our Target Race candidates are in a strong position to cross the finish line on Tuesday. 

We’re rounding up the top stories this month that outline the critical stakes of the thousands of elections across the country.

Read more below: 

NBC: Democrats eye a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to flip state legislative chambers

• Democrats have their sights set on clawing back full control of state governments in Arizona for the first time in 60 years and in Wisconsin for the first time in 16 years. They are also eyeing potential trifectas in Michigan, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Vermont.

• “It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally transform legislative power,” DLCC President Heather Williams said in an interview. “We have huge opportunities to flip chambers, to create trifectas, but also to look at what it means to build power in the states and to start to claw it back where we didn’t have it — and ensure that our current and future Democratic governors have the most power as the executive that they can.”

 

ABC: Democrats, Republicans seek ‘trifectas’ in the 2026 midterms

• “It’s a great environment for Democrats this year and the opportunity in state legislatures is huge,” Will Rusche, an official with the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, told ABC News.

• One opportunity is in Pennsylvania, where Democrats control the state House (103 Democrats to 100 Republicans) but the GOP holds the state Senate (23 Democrats to 27 Republicans).

 

NPR: Democrats seek to weaken the Republican lead in state legislatures

• Committees for both national parties are picking their races to promote, with Democrats trying to seize on the anti-incumbent mood and low popularity of President Trump.

• Democrats are pouring millions of dollars into trying to flip Republican-held chambers in several states, especially Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, New Hampshire, Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

• That would give some Democratic governors greater power to pass their policy priorities or let Democrats block GOP initiatives.

 

RawStory: ‘Never been more important’: Obama flags overlooked ‘generational opportunity’ for power

• Former President Barack Obama is asking Democrats to look past Congress and toward the races he says will shape Americans’ lives more directly: the contests for seats in state legislatures.

• Obama pointed to his years in the Illinois Senate, where he said he “saw how state legislators could use their power to improve the lives of millions of Americans and strengthen our communities.”

• “At a moment when our country feels divided and our democracy seems broken, I still believe change only happens when ordinary people get involved and stay engaged,” the ex-president wrote.

 

Mother Jones: These State Races Could Be the Sleeper Issue of the Midterms

• If Democrats retake Congress, they can block President Donald Trump’s MAGA agenda. But if Democrats retake control of the states, they can actually begin to reverse it.

• Democrats are targeting 500 state legislative seats in 42 chambers across 27 states this year.

• They could break up GOP majorities in six states (Florida, Georgia, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Texas) and pick up new majorities in seven states (Alaska, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin).

On Election Day, the DLCC will be live on our Results page to report out election results and important information on Democrats’ strong progress in 2026 that lead up to this moment.