Democrats took full control of at least five state governments Tuesday, giving the party a level of power it hasn’t held in some of those places in years.
The party won the so-called trifecta — taking the governorship and both legislative chambers — in Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to the Associated Press.
These victories are the latest marker of a hugely successful midterm election for the party. In addition to largely controlling both houses of Congress, Democrats won a majority of governorships for the first time in 16 years, after Republicans had long dominated at the state level.
Now Democrats will have the opportunity to fundamentally shift the local political agenda, including in several presidential battleground states.
“It was the most important night for state legislatures since the Republican seismic wave of 2010,” said Mandara Meyers, executive director of the States Project, a Democratic-aligned group that works to strengthen the party’s power in state legislatures.
The group was one of several spending millions to boost Democratic gains in state legislative chambers.
In Wisconsin, Democrats regained full control of state government for the first time in 16 years, flipping the state Assembly and Senate while retaining the governor’s mansion.
Those gains were in part a product of new state legislative maps that took effect after the state Supreme Court overturned previous lines drawn by Republicans in 2024. Democrats had to trade two seats for a majority in the Senate and five in the Assembly, but ended up with far more in both chambers.
In another key state, Pennsylvania, Democrats lost far more than the three seats they needed in the state Senate to retake the chamber, while expanding what had been a one-seat advantage in the state Assembly, giving re-elected Gov. Josh Shapiro a powerful tool for his second term. This is the first trio of Democrats in Pennsylvania since 1993.
Democrats also won back a trio in Michigan after losing it two years earlier, flipping control of the House of Representatives and strengthening their narrow majority in the state Senate. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson won the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
In Minnesota, Democrats secured significant majorities in both legislative chambers, needing only to flip a seat in the House of Representatives and protect a one-seat majority in the state Senate. Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar will be the state’s next governor, succeeding Gov. Tim Walz.
And in Nevada, Democrats retained their current control of both legislative chambers, while turning the governorship blue with state Attorney General Aaron Ford’s victory over Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.
Democrats could yet win another trifecta in Arizona, where they haven’t held full control of state government in 60 years. State party leaders have said they are on track to win both legislative chambers, although the AP has not yet projected partisan control in either. Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, meanwhile, was re-elected.
The party has also made notable inroads in traditionally Republican states.
In Texas, State Representative Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Governor Greg Abbott, becoming the first Democratic governor to lead the state since 1995. Republicans had enjoyed complete control of state government since 2003.
As of Wednesday morning, Texas state Democrats had also made significant progress in the House of Representatives — some state party leaders have said control of the chamber is within their reach — although the AP has not yet called for control of that chamber. Republicans retained control of the state Senate, according to the AP.
In Georgia, Keisha Lance Bottoms won the gubernatorial race, turning the office blue for the first time in 24 years, while Democrats made significant gains in the House of Representatives. The AP has not called for taking control of the House of Representatives, but projects that Republicans will retain control of the state Senate.
Republicans have held a winning trio in Georgia since 2005.
Additionally, Democratic gubernatorial victories in Iowa and Ohio broke the Republican Party’s total control of those states’ government.
Democrats also flipped control of the North Carolina state House of Representatives for the first time in 16 years, according to the AP, while narrowly missing a majority in the state Senate.
Elsewhere, Democrats said they gained enough legislative seats to break Republican supermajorities in the chambers of South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Ohio.
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