Democratic thrashing redraws the map of state power

The blue wave crashed through statehouses across the country Tuesday — carrying political and policy ramifications that will reverberate for years.

Democrats flipped more than 500 state legislative seats and won control of at least a dozen legislative chambers, establishing new governing trifectas in Michigan, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nevada. They captured legislative chambers in Texas, Georgia and North Carolina — states long dominated by Republican lawmakers. And they picked up even more legislative seats in deep blue strongholds like New York, California and Illinois.

The victories give Democrats an opening to pursue long-stalled agendas on housing costs and public education, along with new leverage in fights over taxing wealthy people and corporations and regulating artificial intelligence. Their gains will also reshape the country’s redistricting wars — and test whether Democrats can turn their backlash-fueled victories into changes voters can feel in their daily lives.

“We had a generational opportunity to shift the power in our states and to affect change and we did just that,” Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee President Heather Williams said. “We ran the table. It’s amazing.”