I’ve been searching the internet for a complete (or close to complete) list of the new make-ups of all of the stat legislatures, but so far, I haven’t found any. Therefore, I thought we might put one together. Therefore, please respond to this diary with the new make-up of your state’s legislature (and any other you know) and if either party gained seats and if so, how many. Also note if any seats are still too close to call.
I’ll start off with my own state, Texas. House: 76R/74D (although one more R seat is going to a recount); D+3 (could be +4 after the recount). Senate: 18R/13D (plus one more going to a run-off); D+1 (could be +2 after the run-off).
The guru of state legislatures:
http://www.ncsl.org/statevote/…
on top of the 350 we gained in 2006. I belive Obama is the first Democratic President to be elected and also see his party gain state legislative seats since LBJ in 1964. Both Carter and Clinton dropped seats in 1976 and 1992 respectively. The key is holding them in 2010.
For Dems:
New York State Senate
Delaware State House
Wisconsin State Assembly
Nevada State Senate
Ohio State House
For Republicans
Oklahoma State Senate (We were only holding a tie here)
Montana State Senate
Missouri, Tennessee, and Arizona were the big moves against us. Then again, AZ was prob due only to McCain. Let’s see what we can do in 2010.
it was a decent night. No change in the state Senate, which is at a very lopsided 35D/5R anyway. A net three pickups in the more conservative state House, for 143 Ds out of 160 seats. The true partisan metric in the state House is support for gay marriage legalization, which improved by three overall as well to around 125.
Democrats picked up two seats in the Maine state Senate for a safe 20D/15R margin. I am still trying to find out the story there. There were six pickups in the state House, which is really lopsided for Ds now. Collins surviving was the turd in the punchbowl, though.
Margins corrected themselves in New Hampshire. Democrats dropped from 239 in the state House to 220. Frankly, a lot of the Democratic House Reps elected in 2006 were protest candidates who didnt think they would win and never fulfilled the commitments to serve well; several resigned and left open seats within the first year. 220 of 400 is a perfect fit to the 55% national Democratic vote in the state, though. The state is now Safely Blue.
Things were messier in New York. Democrats got two pickups for a bare 32D/30R majority in the state Senate. Lots of disappointments on Election Night and a revolt/fracas by four Democratic Senators that is starting to implode resulted. The best news is that two Republican state Senators in D majority districts in the Hudson Valley are talking about retiring almost immediately. Special elections that improve the margin of majority maybe the next story there. The state Assembly stayed about the same composition as before. (The next elections seem likely to be about cleaning it up.)
Nevada is my hobby horse as a former resident of southern California. Democrats won not just the hoped for state Senate seat in northwestern Las Vegas but also, in a squeaker, one they didnt think they could win in Henderson. It was a bonus win from the massive efforts put into winning Clarke County for Obama and the US House seat that Dina Titus won.
Two Republican held open state Assembly seats were won, one in Henderson and one in Reno(afaict). An open Democratic state Assembly seat was lost to a famous Republican political family scion in, ironically enough, Henderson as well.
Except for the governor office, Nevada has now gone Blue at the state level. Democrats now have two thirds majority in the state Assembly (now 28D/17R) and are two seats away from that in the state Senate (now 12D/9R). In 2011 Nevada Democrats could have the governor office and/or the majorities to override vetos. There are a lot of crap Red State laws on the books to reform or repeal and lots of bad government services, especially the state justice system, to cleanup.
Oh, and hardcore Republican megafunder, Titus enemy, and Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson seems to have hit bankrupcy at a moment seriously unfortunate for him and his efforts to keep Las Vegas his nasty little gambling based plantation. The Republican oligarchs are not doing too well lately.
…so far it looks like we will pick up 3 open GOP-held Assembly seats, while 3 other open GOP-held seats and an open Dem-held seat are too close to call. If we end up losing that Dem-held seat (thanks a lot, Nicole Parra), then Dems will control the chamber 50-30, a net gain of D+2.
One State Senate district, SD-19 (McClintock’s old district), is too close to call, but if Democrat Hannah-Beth Jackson ends up winning, then we will have 26-14 control, D+1. Disappointing we might not make it to 2/3 though. Just have to wait until the remaining ballots are counted.
Provided nothing changes due to provisionals, recounts, etc.:
We picked up four seats in the House but gave two back.
No net change in the Senate.
Looks like we lost a seat in the Senate and will break even in the House. Not the result we were hoping for but we still have strong majorities in both houses.