DLCC Election Update (as of 11/28/18 @ 8AM)

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AS OF 11/28 @ 8AM ET

New Majorities:  8  Seats Flipped:  393  New Trifectas:  7

The DLCC and state Democrats had already flipped 44 seats headed into Election Day, and created a trifecta in Washington state by flipping the Senate from red to blue. 

As results continue to roll in, here’s what you need to know:

DLCC BY THE NUMBERS:
2,911 Democrats elected
1,173 Democratic women
842 Democrats of color
84 LGBTQ Democrats
65 DLCC trainings with 1,000 candidates and staff
17 million doors knocked
$35 million invested

NEW DEMOCRATIC MAJORITIES

COLORADO

Senate Post-Election: 19D – 16R
Senate Pre-Election: 16D – 18R – 1I

House Post-Election: 41D – 24R
House Pre-Election: 36D – 29R

Colorado Senate Democrats have flipped the chamber from red to blue. All five targeted women candidates known as the “Fab Five” won – Jessie Danielson in SD-20, Kerry Donovan in SD-5, Brittany Pettersen in SD-22, Tammy Story in SD-16, and Faith Winter in SD-24. Learn more about the “Fab Five” here. Colorado Senate Democrats have elected Senator Leroy Garcia as Senate President, making him the first Latino President of the Colorado Senate. House Democrats picked up five seats, growing their majority in the chamber, and have elected Representative KC Becker as Speaker of the House. With a new trifecta in the state, Democrats will be poised to enact progressive legislation. 

MAINE

Senate Post-Election: 21D – 14R
Senate Pre-Election: 17D – 18R

House Post-Election: 89D – 57R – 5I
House Pre-Election: 73D – 70R – 7I – 1V

Maine Senate Democrats have flipped the chamber from red to blue and Maine House Democrats expanded their majority, picking up 10 additional seats in the chamber. Democrat Linda Sanborn beat Republican Senate Leader Amy Volk in SD-30. Democrats have elected Senator Troy Jackson to serve as Senate President. With Governor-elect Janet Mills’ victory, Maine now has a Democratic trifecta.

MINNESOTA

House Post-Election: 75D – 59R
House Pre-Election: 55D – 76R – 3V

Minnesota House Democrats have flipped an impressive 18 seats from red to blue to regain control of the House. As one of the largest donors, the DLCC invested over $506,000 in this program to recruit and support strong candidates, run strategic paid communications, and partnered with in-state allies to execute a record-breaking field program that knocked on over 1.7 million doors. In 2020, all Minnesota Senate seats will be on the ballot, with Democrats only one seat away from regaining the majority in the chamber.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Senate Post-Election: 14D – 10R
Senate Pre-Election: 10D – 14R

House Post-Election: 233D – 167R
House Pre-Election: 176D – 217R – 3I – 4V

New Hampshire House and Senate Democrats have flipped both the chambers, breaking the Republican trifecta. Democrats have flipped at least 59 seats in the House and four seats in the Senate. In HD Carroll 1, Democratic Representative-elect Anita Bourroughs ousted Republican Speaker of the House Gene Chandler. The DLCC’s Independent Expenditure invested over $430,000 in a joint mail and digital program to target an unprecedented 230 races. Senate Democrats have elected Senator Donna Soucy as Senate President and House Democrats have elected Representative Steve Shurtleff as Speaker of the House.

NEW YORK

Senate Post-Election: 40D – 23R
Senate Pre-Election: 32D – 31R*

New York Senate Democrats have flipped eight state Senate seats from red to blue, giving true chamber control to the Democrats. DLCC Board member Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins was unanimously elected to lead the Senate Democratic conference, becoming the first woman to lead a New York legislative chamber.

CONNECTICUT

Senate Post-Election: 23D – 13R
Senate Pre-Election: 18D – 18R

House Post-Election: 92D – 59R
House Pre-Election: 80D – 71R

With all results in, the DLCC and Connecticut Democrats have picked up five seats in the state Senate and 13 seats in the state House, expanding their leadership in both chambers. The DLCC’s strategic investment of $250,000 in the state went toward paid communications to help Democratic candidates reach more voters.

BROKEN REPUBLICAN SUPERMAJORITIES

MICHIGAN

Senate Post-Election: 16D – 22R
Senate Pre-Election: 10D – 27R – 1V

House Post-Election: 52D – 58R
House Pre-Election: 46D – 63R – 1V

Michigan Senate Democrats flipped five seats and have broken Republicans’ supermajority in the state Senate, putting them only four seats away from flipping the chamber in 2022. With House Democrats picking up five seats, Democrats are well positioned to compete for the majority ahead of 2020 redistricting. Representative Christine Greig has been elected House Democratic Leader and DLCC Board member and Senator Jim Ananich has been re-elected as Senate Democratic Leader. Governor-elect Gretchen Whitmer’s victory broke Republicans’ trifecta of power in the state.

NORTH CAROLINA

Senate Post-Election: 21D – 29R
Senate Pre-Election: 15D – 35R

House Post-Election: 55D – 65R
House Pre-Election: 45D – 75R

North Carolina Democrats picked up 10 seats in the House and six seats in the Senate and have broken state Republicans’ supermajorities in both chambers. Gains on election night have put both chambers in a strong position to flip in 2020 ahead of redistricting. The DLCC invested $250,000 that went toward strategic paid communications and to work with in-state partners like Break the Majority to help supporters knock on more than half a million doors to drive voter turnout.

PENNSYLVANIA

Senate Post-Election: 21D – 28R – 1 Outstanding
Senate Pre-Election: 16D – 33R – 1V

House Post-Election: 93D – 110R
House Pre-Election: 80D – 120R – 3V

Pennsylvania state Democrats picked up 11 seats in the House and have re-elected Representative Frank Dermody as House Democratic Leader, putting Democrats in a strong position to take the majority in 2020. In the state Senate, Democrats picked up at least five seats (with one seat headed to a recount) breaking Republicans’ supermajority in the chamber. The DLCC’s early investment in candidate recruitment, staff support and a robust IE investment of over $453,000, helped establish both chambers as competitive two-cycle plays ahead of redistricting in 2020.

SIGNIFICANT GAINS

ALASKA

House Post-Election: 16D – 23R – 1I – 1 Outstanding
Note: Democrats’ governing coalition currently stands at 19 members.
House Pre-Election: 17D – 21R – 2I
Note: Democrats led a coalition majority with 22 members.

After counting all votes, Democrats have pulled ahead in SD A, and Democrat Scott Kawasaki has defeated Republican Senate President Pete Kelly. In HD 1, Democrat Kathryn Dodge is tied with Republican Barton LeBon and a recount will occur Friday. Coalition talks are ongoing and nothing is set in stone at this point.

ARIZONA

House Post-Election: 29D – 31R
House Pre-Election: 25D – 35R

Democrats have picked up four seats in the House of Representatives and are now just two seats away from regaining the majority in 2020.

CALIFORNIA

Senate Post-Election: 29D – 11R
Senate Pre-Election: 26D – 14R

Assembly Post-Election: 60D – 19R – 1 Outstanding
Assembly Pre-Election: 55D – 25R

California Democrats are returning to Sacramento with a new supermajority in the state Senate, picking up three seats in the chamber. Assembly Democrats expanded their supermajority in the state’s lower chamber, winning 60 seats and claiming the largest majority in modern history. 

FLORIDA

Senate Post-Election: 17D – 23R
Senate Pre-Election: 16D – 22R – 2V

House Post-Election: 47D – 73R
House Pre-Election: 41D – 75R – 4V

Florida Democrats flipped seven seats from red to blue in the state House and DLCC Board member and Senator-elect Janet Cruz flipped SD-18 from red to blue.

GEORGIA

Senate Post-Election: 21D – 35R
Senate Pre-Election: 19D – 37R

House Post-Election: 73D – 105R – 2 Outstanding
House Pre-Election: 64D – 115R – 1V

Georgia House Democrats picked up 10 seats in the chamber, with seven DLCC Spotlight candidates winning their elections. In the state Senate, Democrats picked up two seats in the chamber. Last December, Senate Democrats broke Republicans’ supermajority in the chamber with Senator Jen Jordan’s special election victory.

IOWA

House Post-Election: 46D – 52R – 2 Outstanding
House Pre-Election: 41D – 58R – 1V

With the DLCC’s early and strategic investment of nearly $1 million to support campaign staff, candidate trainings, and paid communications, Iowa Democrats have flipped at least seven seats in the state House, bringing them within striking distance ahead of 2020. Final results are outstanding in two races with recounts pending. The DLCC will continue to provide updates as additional information becomes available.

MARYLAND

House Post-Election: 97D – 43R – 1 Outstanding
House Pre-Election: 91D – 50R

Maryland House Democrats succeeded in protecting their supermajorities in both legislative chambers, and expanded their supermajority in the state House. There is currently one race outstanding, and the Democratic candidate is ahead.

NEVADA

Senate Post-Election: 13D – 8R
Senate Pre-Election: 11D – 8R – 2V

Assembly Post-Election: 29D – 13R
Assembly Pre-Election: 27D – 14R – 1V

Nevada Senate Democrats added two seats to their majority. In the Assembly, Democrats picked up two seats to gain a supermajority in the chamber, defeating Republicans in districts that Donald Trump won in 2016. The DLCC IE invested heavily in a targeted mail program in all three of these districts. Senate Democrats have elected Senator Kelvin Atkinson as Senate Majority Leader.

NEW MEXICO

House Post-Election: 46D – 23R – 1 Outstanding
House Pre-Election: 38D – 32R

New Mexico House Democrats flipped nine seats with an additional race headed into a recount. New Mexico Democrats will return to Sante Fe with a new trifecta, thanks to Gov.-elect Michelle Lujan-Grisham’s victory. DLCC Board member Brian Egolf was re-elected Speaker of the House heading into session.

TEXAS

Senate Post-Election: 11D – 19R – 1V
Senate Pre-Election: 10D – 21R

House Post-Election: 67D – 83R
House Pre-Election: 55D – 93R – 2V

Texas Democrats flipped 12 seats from red to blue in the state House and two seats from red to blue in the state Senate. In addition, all of DLCC’s Texas Spotlight Race candidates won their races. Early voting began Monday in the special election for Senate District 6 following Sylvia Garcia’s election to Congress.

WASHINGTON

Senate Post-Election: 28D* – 19R – 2 Outstanding
Senate Pre-Election: 26D* – 23R

House Post-Election: 57D – 40R – 1 Outstanding
House Pre-Election: 50D – 48R

After the DLCC and Washington Senate Democrats flipped the chamber from red to blue last November with Senator Manka Dhingra’s special election victory, Washington Senate Democrats have built on that success and underscored Democratic leadership in the chamber. With three races outstanding, Democrats have picked up at least two seats in the state Senate and seven seats in the state House. The DLCC invested over $800,000 in securing a Democratic trifecta in Washington.

WEST VIRGINIA

Senate Post-Election: 14D – 20R
Senate Pre-Election: 12D – 22R

House Post-Election: 41D – 59R
House Pre-Election: 35D – 64R – 1V

Democrats beat Republican leadership in the West Virginia House and Senate – West Virginia House Democrats picked up five seats and DLCC Spotlight candidate Democrat John Doyle took down the GOP Majority Leader-designate, Riley Moore. In the Senate, Democrats gained two seats and are now only four seats away from the majority. Republicans’ Majority Leader, Senator Ryan Ferns lost to Democrat William Ihlenfeld. Democrats have put themselves in a strong position regain the chamber control they lost in 2014.

DEMOCRATIC SUPERMAJORITIES

Democrats gained supermajorities in the following chambers:

Democrats held supermajorities in the following chambers:

NOTABLE FIRSTS

COLORADO: Representative-elect Brianna Titone will become the first openly transgender candidate to serve in the Colorado House.

FLORIDA: Representative-elect Anna Eskamani will become the first Iranian-American to serve in the Florida Legislature.

ILLINOIS: Senator-elect Ram Villivalam is the first Indian-American elected to the Illinois General Assembly.

INDIANA: With his election to the Indiana Senate, Senator-elect JD Ford will become the first openly LGBTQ member of the Indiana Legislature, in a seat Democrats haven’t held since 1972.

KANSAS: Representative-elect Rui Xu is the first Chinese-American elected to the Kansas House.

MICHIGAN: Senator-elect Jeremy Moss is the first openly LGBTQ elected member of the Michigan Senate.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Senator-elect Melanie Levesque became the first African American elected to the state Senate. Representatives-elect Gerri Cannon and Lisa Bunker will become the first openly transgender elected officials to serve in the legislature.

NEW YORK: Senator-elect Anna Kaplan will become the first Iranian-American to serve in the state Senate and Senator-elect John Liu will become one of the first Asian Americans elected to the state Senate, along with Senator-elect Kevin Thomas. DLCC Board member Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins was unanimously elected to lead the Senate Democratic conference, becoming the first woman to lead a New York legislative chamber.

OKLAHOMA: Oklahoma Senate Democrats became the first caucus in state history to have women members make up the majority of the caucus.

SOUTH CAROLINA: In a special election victory, Senator-elect Dick Harpootlian flipped SD-20 from red to blue, giving South Carolina Senate Democrats their first flip since 2000.

TENNESSEE: Rep. Karen Camper will become the chamber’s first African-American minority leader in the House.

WISCONSIN: Wisconsin Assembly Democrats will welcome a new caucus in 2019 that’s 50 percent female.

 

Follow@TheDLCC on Twitter and @DLCC.org on Facebook for real-time updates.

For more information or to schedule an interview with the DLCC, please contact Mara Sloan at [email protected].