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Thursday, October 05, 2006

Dems Hoping to Continue Statehouse Successes

Posted by DavidNYC

And continue is the operative word. Check out this extremely wrong-headed quote from someone who ought to know better:

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. Legislatures currently are controlled nearly equally by Democrats and Republicans.

"For a number of elections, the Republicans have been eating [the Democrats] alive," Storey said. "Do the Democrats build some momentum in the other direction? I think they're optimistic they can do that."

The facts:

2003: Dem net gain of one chamber
Dems picked up NJ Senate
R's had no chamber gains

2004: Dems net gain of five chambers
Dems picked up CO House; CO Senate; IA Senate (to a tie); MT Senate; MT House (to a tie); NC House; OR Senate; VT House; and WA Senate
GOP gained GA House; IN House; OK House; and TN Senate

2005 & 2006: Dem net gain of eleven seats
No chamber flips since 2004, but Dems picked up additional seats in the 2005 elections (VA & NJ) and in special slections in MO, NH, PA, VA, and TX.

In other words, the Democrats have been kicking ass on this front over the past four years. Why someone from the NCLC - the pre-eminent organization devoted to state legislatures - could get things totally backwards is beyond me.

I would like to take this opportunity to praise the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (aka the DLCC) for their tireless work on these races. State lege races are usually unglamorous affairs, and the rewards for victory seldom receive the attention that national success does. Yet the DLCC plugs away, day after day, in the shadows of the DNC, DSCC and DCCC. They deserve a major pat on the back for all their successes in recent years.

And I'd also like to point out that a little help can go a long, long way in state legislative races. They are almost always low dollar races, so even small donations can make a big difference. ActBlue has activated state-level fundraising capabilities in twenty states now (many with the help of the DLCC), so it's even easier to donate to local candidates now. In fact, the DLCC even has its own ActBlue page with a list of targeted races. But if you aren't sure where you want to get involved, you can check out the DLCC's action list or donate directly to the DLCC.

Posted at 10:44 PM in 2006 Elections - State | Technorati

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Comments

Thank you for the link to the ActBlue page.
I'm glad they're working on that.

If anyone would like to see another slate of candidates running for various state legislatures, there's one at:

http://www.actblue.com/page/06act-local-think-global?refcode=ssp

There's some overlap in the candidates profiled, which is interesting.

Posted by: Christopher Walker at October 6, 2006 10:29 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I don't mean to pimp my own stuff too much....well...yes I do. But I've interviewed several quality legislative candidates at the state level on MNCR (http://www.mncampaignreport.com, candidate interviews category). Dems control the State Senate, and are at a one-seat (68-66) disadvantage in the State House. Given the national and local climate and the great slate of candidates we have, there's an excellent chance that the DFL will own both houses of the legislature come January 2007.

Posted by: JelloAbode at October 6, 2006 11:49 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment