Democrats are winning some impressive statehouse elections. What does that mean for 2018?

By Amber Phillips October 8 at 8:00 AM

Let's put this into perspective first. Democrats are in the minority at nearly every single level of government, and nowhere is that more obvious than in the nation's statehouses. Republicans effectively control 68 of 99 state legislative chambers. At the congressional level, House Democrats would need to net 24 seats in November 2018 to take back control of the House of Representatives.





But despite all this, statehouse Democrats have a lot to celebrate. Democrats have flipped eight statehouse seats across the nation since President Trump got elected, all in districts Trump won last fall, according to data broken down by left-leaning political blog Daily Kos.

To better understand what's going on — and whether this translates to any broader Democratic Party momentum for the 2018 midterm elections — The Fix pinged Carolyn Fiddler, a former Democratic statehouse operative and current political editor for Daily Kos. We spoke by email this week and our conversation is lightly edited for length.

The Fix: What makes these eight wins so significant for Democrats?

Fiddler: Those eight Democratic pickups are a significant percentage of the 27 total state and congressional special elections held in Republican seats this cycle — almost 30 percent, actually. If Democrats were to flip 30 percent of Republican-held congressional seats in 2018, the House GOP caucus would lose 72 of its members. Republicans haven't picked up a single seat in a contested Democrat-vs.-Republican special election this year.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/10/07/democrats-are-winning-some-impressive-special-elections-at-the-state-level-why