At least Democrats are finally admitting that after the disappointment of 2020's state elections, that winning back state legislatures are going to be next to impossible without major investment by the national party into state party efforts.
Now, Democrats are licking their wounds and looking to cobble together a new strategy for success in state legislative races after failing to flip a single chamber throughout the entire country last year. Those defeats are particularly stinging now as Republicans are left in control of redistricting for 187 House districts, while Democrats will have full control to delineate just 84.
Those defeats stand in stark contrast to the victories Democrats projected in states like Arizona, Minnesota, North Carolina and Texas. Adding insult to injury, Democrats also ceded both chambers of the New Hampshire legislature.
And with redistricting coming just ahead of the 2022 midterms, those losses have Democrats alarmed.
“I think it's devastating,” said Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something, which helps Democrats win state legislative races. “If we hold the House in 2022, it will be a structural miracle. Because Democrats failing to flip a single chamber and in fact losing two in 2020 is the kind of thing that will set Congress back decades.”
It is that alarm that is fueling Democrats’ scramble to achieve greater success in state legislative races.
Heather Williams, the executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), said the party is “in the process of solidifying our strategy” and “ready to do recruitment and find candidates for seats on condensed timelines,” noting that redistricting will delay the entry of candidates in some races.
“I think it's imperative that Democrats win back state legislatures across the country,” added Pennsylvania state Sen. Jay Costa, who serves as Democrats’ floor leader. “I can't tell you how many years we've been trying to do it. And we've come close, we take three steps forward, and then over two cycles we take six steps back.”
Democrats have been tantalizingly close in several chambers. The party last year was two seats away from flipping the Arizona state House and Minnesota Senate and nine seats away from flipping the Texas state House, to name a few. Democrats made no headway in Arizona or Texas and won only one seat in Minnesota.
Nearly a dozen Democrats who spoke to The Hill said that the top priority is adjusting their messaging strategy for state races.
Democrats have preached as gospel for years that the party succeeds both locally and nationally when focusing on kitchen table issues like health care, jobs and education.
However, the party is looking to take that one step further by vocalizing the connections between specific communities and those issues rather than have a blanket talking point on issues like expanding access to health care.
Democrats must “communicate what we want to do and what we're trying to do, and again, depending upon what part of the state you're talking about. … In Southeast Pennsylvania … there's a message along those lines,” Costa said. “In the southwestern part of the state, which is trending significantly more Republican, it's a different conversation.”
I don't think the problem is "messaging" as it is "having done something to crow about". Turns out that actually doing something great, like, I dunno, a major infrastructure bill that helps tens of millions?
Might put points on the board with voters in 2022, but Dems have to brag about it at every opportunity.
Will they listen?
Hell they still haven't passed either infrastructure bill. Can we start there?
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