Democrats make sweeping gains at the state level, taking control of legislatures and shifting power

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democrats made sweeping gains in state governments during the midterm elections , taking control of several legislatures and shifting the balance of power across some battleground and historically Republican-leaning states.

The party took full control — both statehouse chambers and governors' offices — in Minnesota and Wisconsin and could pick up more states to earn additional trifectas.

The wins put pressure on the party to answer to an electorate angry over the price of gas, inflation, affordable housing and the rising cost of living. State governments shape a wide array of policies affecting everyday lives, including tax rates and abortion rights, school choice and education funding, data center development, and the use of artificial intelligence and law-enforcement surveillance cameras .

“Now it’s time to deliver,” Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Devin Remiker said.

Democrats succeeded in flipping control of both chambers of the Legislature in battleground Wisconsin, breaking a 16-year Republican majority, and retained the governor's office. They also won back full control of the Legislature in neighboring Minnesota and retained the governor's office for another trifecta.

Democrats also were in position to win trifectas in the presidential battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and Michigan.

And the party broke or prevented Republican supermajorities in nine legislative chambers in eight states: Florida, South Carolina, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Ohio, Kansas and North Carolina.

There will be pressure on Democrats in Wisconsin and other battleground states to redraw congressional maps, just as President Donald Trump successfully urged eight Republican states to do ahead of this election. But that backfired , with Republicans losing most of the Democratic-held seats they had targeted to flip and others they had banked on winning.

Even under maps that favor Republicans in Wisconsin, Democrats picked up two congressional seats in Tuesday's races. That means the state will have an evenly divided congressional delegation in 2027.

Democrats will also hold at least 28 governorships in 2027, with pickups in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Texas — states long held by Republicans.

The wins come after Democrats lost nearly 1,000 state legislative seats during President Barack Obama's tenure, a slide they've been trying to reverse for several cycles.

Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, said Democrats won “historic levels of power in statehouses.” She said Democrats hadn’t flipped this many seats nationwide since the 1980s.

“The shift in the balance of power in our statehouses will have some of the longest-lasting impacts of this election,” she said.

The cost of groceries, housing, healthcare, gas and utility bills were major campaign talking points after legislative sessions packed with bills aiming to make life more affordable for Americans, while also providing tax relief and reining in data center development and the use of artificial intelligence.

The coming legislative session could see major efforts to lighten the tax burden on the middle class, relax housing regulations, expand access to healthcare, and force utilities and data center developers to do more to stop electricity bills from rising.

Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who won reelection, told his supporters on Tuesday night that people want him and lawmakers to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, invest in infrastructure, kids, police and communities, and enshrine abortion rights for women in the state Constitution.

Other newly elected governors, including Wisconsin's David Crowley and Minnesota's Amy Klobuchar, said they wanted to work with Republicans.

“I am not interested in moving Minnesota to the left or the right; I want to move us forward,” Klobuchar said.

She even had a warning for her Democratic supporters.

“Spoiler alert: You may not like every single thing I do,” she said.

Mulvihill reported from Haddonfield, New Jersey. Associated Press reporter Marc Levy contributed.