Democrats will capitalize on the year of Trump and plan to flip at least 10 legislative chambers in 2016. With a motivated base and Trump’s toxicity spreading down the GOP ballot, we see our long and ongoing string of successes in this year’s special elections as a springboard for the fall. The success of Democrats at the state level this cycle will directly impact the rapidly approaching post-2020 round of redistricting. Read the full story here!
“On the last Wednesday of April, as Donald Trump reveled on cable talk shows over his Acela primary sweep the night before, some 60 Democratic state legislative campaign operatives from around the country gathered in a boutique hotel ballroom just off Scott Circle in Washington to kick-start the final six months of the election cycle—and figure out how to take advantage of Trump’s presence on the ballot….
“The organization is among the key national party players seated at the table hoping to ensure the political massacre of 2010 doesn’t recur. For its part, the DLCC invited legislative caucus staffers to D.C. last month for basic training, to facilitate coordination, and to prepare for a potentially big year.
“The summit included training on hiring and managing staff, budgeting, and working with the press. Its first day featured a generically titled session on the “Election Environment,” where the subject at hand was how to maximize victories with Trump at the top of the ticket. In an interview, Post said the most notable reaction to Trump so far is the number of people stepping forward to run for office. …
“Along with unprecedented coordination between national committees, the DLCC is pushing for increased buy-in from its allies while helping state-level legislative caucuses utilize a presidential-level data program to amplify the targeting capacity of its field effort. …
“The DLCC already had a major success this year. With Democrats’ lone chamber in the South on the line, the party won three of four Kentucky state House special elections in March, including flipping a Republican seat. It also picked up a state Senate seat last month in New York. But the work has just begun.
“‘My job as the executive director at DLCC,’ Post said, ‘is to make sure that everyone who contributes at the federal level gets what we get—that the states are where it’s at, and the way to take back our country is to make sure that we control state legislatures.’”
