Republicans Gain Supermajority of Legislative Majorities

Friday, November 07, 2014

Please note: This is a working document. As results are verified, changes will be made.

Republican State Leadership Committee President Matt Walter issued the following statement on the 2014 election:

“Voters overwhelmingly voted for a new, open, innovative future for their families by electing state level republicans in record numbers across the nation, including in traditionally blue states. The key to our success this year was recruiting diverse candidates and women candidates who made the critical difference in chamber control in in key statewide races. Before last night, the all-time Republican high was 64 chambers in 1920. Now, Republicans will hold a supermajority of legislative majorities, with GOP control in 69 chambers. We also appear on track to eclipse the all-time Republican high of 4,001 Republican state legislative seats held in 1928.”

STATE LEGISLATURES:

Before election night, Republicans held 60 of 99 legislative chambers, including the coalition governments in the New York Senate and Washington Senate and the unicameral legislature in Nebraska. Republicans will now control a record-high 69 chambers.

Republicans have picked up chambers in:

Colorado Senate
Maine Senate
Minnesota House
Nevada Senate
Nevada Assembly
New Hampshire House
New Mexico House
West Virginia House
West Virginia Senate

Outright majority in Washington Senate
Outright majority in New York Senate

Republicans have held the below majorities and supermajorities:

AL House (supermajority)
AL Senate (supermajority)
AK House
AK Senate (supermajority)
AZ House
AZ Senate
AR House (expanded majority)
AR Senate (supermajority)
FL House (expanded supermajority)
FL Senate
GA House
GA Senate (supermajority)
IA House (expanded majority)
ID House
ID Senate
IN House (supermajority)
IN Senate (expanded supermajority)
KS House (expanded majority)
KY Senate
MI House (expanded majority)
MI Senate (expanded supermajority)
MO House (expanded supermajority)
MO Senate (expanded supermajority)
MT House
MT Senate
NE
NH Senate
NC House (supermajority)
NC Senate (supermajority)
ND House
ND Senate
NY Senate (outright majority)
OH House (expanded supermajority)
OH Senate (supermajority)
OK House (supermajority)
OK Senate (expanded supermajority)
PA House (expanded majority)
PA Senate (expanded majority)
SC House
SD House
SD Senate
TN House (expanded supermajority)
TN Senate (expanded supermajority)
TX House (expanded majority)
TX Senate
UT House
UT Senate
WA Senate (outright majority)
WI Assembly (expanded majority)
WI Senate (expanded majority)
WY House
WY Senate

Additionally Republicans ended Democratic supermajorities in:

CA Assembly
CA Senate
DE Senate
VT House

Total Legislative Seats

**Note for historical comparison:
The 1928 period of the Roaring 20s economic boom saw the highest number of Republican legislators elected in our nation’s history before the election of 2014, at 4,001 total GOP-held seats. 2010 saw Republicans add 675 seats for a grand total of 3,944 legislative seats, the largest Republican win since 1966. This total was increased to 3,979 in 2012 before the same year’s presidential election. Yesterday, 2014 pre-election totals stood at 3,836 Republican seats to Democrat’s 3,448.

For full perspective, according to National Conference of State Legislatures, the total number of state legislators has remained static at around 7,300 total seats since the US reached 48 states in 1912 will with inclusion of Arizona. 60 total seats were added with the inclusion of Alaska and another 76 seats in Hawaii in 1959. The total number of state legislative seats nationwide is presently at 7,383.

When final votes are tallied, we expect these numbers to exceed these historic marks and confirm the highest number of Republican-held chambers and legislative seats in history.

FUTURE MAJORITY PROJECT

The RSLC notes that Republicans have elected a dozen female statewide officials, including:

Kay Ivey – Lt. Governor, AL
Evelyn Sanguinetti – Lt. Governor, IL*
Kim Reynolds – Lt. Governor, IA
Mary Taylor – Lt. Governor, OH
Rebecca Kleefisch – Lt. Governor, WI
Connie Lawson – Secretary of State, IN
Ruth Johnson – Secretary of State, MI
Shantel Krebs – Secretary of State, SD*
Karyn Polito - Lt. Governor, MA*
Barbara Cegavske – Secretary of State, NV*
Michele Reagan – Secretary of State, AZ*
Dianna Duran – Secretary of State, NM

* Newly elected

The RSLC notes that Republicans have elected diverse statewide officials, including:

John Sanchez – Lt. Governor, NM
Carlos Lopez-Cantera, - Lt. Governor, FL
Evelyn Sanguinetti – Lt Governor, IL*
Boyd Rutherford – Lt. Governor, MD*
Dianna Duran – Secretary of State, NM

*Newly elected

LIEUTENANT GOVERNORS (31)

Pick Ups

AR – Tim Griffin*
IL - Evelyn Sanguinetti
MA - Karyn Polito
MD – Boyd Rutherford
SC – Henry McMaster *
WV – Lieutenant Governor will be chosen by the Republican-controlled State Senate

Holds

NV – Mark Hutchison*
TX – Dan Patrick*
NE – Mike Foley

Re-elections

AL – Kay Ivey*
OH – Mary Taylor
KS – Jeff Colyer
OK – Todd Lamb*
VT – Phil Scott*
WI – Rebecca Kleefisch
NM – John Sanchez
FL – Carlos Lopez-Cantera
IA – Kim Reynolds
MI – Brian Calley
ID – Brad Little
GA – Casey Cagle*

* Independently Elected

SECRETARIES OF STATE (28)

OH – Jon Husted
IN – Connie Lawson
SC – Mark Hammond
AL – John Merrill
WY – Ed Murray
ND – Al Jaeger
CO – Wayne Williams
AR – Mark Martin
SD – Shantel Krebs
MI – Ruth Johnson
GA – Brian Kemp
NV – Barbara Cegavske
AZ – Michele Reagan
IA – Paul Pate
KS – Kris Kobach
ID – Lawerence Denney
NM – Dianna Duran
MD – Secretary of State will be appointed by the governor (Republican Larry Hogan)

2014 Majority Makers represent the hundreds of new women and new diverse candidates identified, recruited, trained and supported by the Future Majority Project during the 2014 cycle.

Arizona – Tony Rivero, a Hispanic former councilmember, won an open seat allowing Republicans to retain their majority in the Arizona House in a top Democratic target chamber. Michele Reagan was elected Secretary of State.

Arkansas House – Karilyn Brown won by nearly 14 points in a district that was previously held by a Democrat. Linda Collins-Smith defeated a Democratic incumbent by nearly 17 points.

California – Asian-American women candidates Young Kim and Ling-Ling Chang won along with Catharine Baker, ending a Democratic supermajority in the Assembly. Janet Nguyen, the first Republican Vietnamese-American elected official in CA, was the deciding seat to end the Democratic supermajority in the California Senate, winning by 19 points in a district previously held by Democrats.

Colorado Senate– Beth Martinez-Humenik is Mexican-American. Her election to the Colorado Senate gave Republicans a new majority, winning in a district where Romney lost by 9 points.

Florida House – Hispanics in Central Florida, Bob Cortez and Rene Plasencia, both won in districts won by Obama, giving Republicans a new supermajority in the Florida House.

Illinois – Evelyn Sanguinetti was elected lieutenant governor. Evelyn is the first Latina lieutenant governor in Illinois and the only Latina lieutenant governor in the country.

Maryland – African American Boyd Rutherford was elected lieutenant governor. He is the only African American lieutenant governor of either party.

Massachusetts – Karyn Polito was elected lieutenant governor.

Michigan House – Daniela Garcia handily won her seat, allowing Republicans to expand their majority in a key target chamber by Democrats. Daniela is the first Latina Republican to serve in the Michigan House. Her district represents the largest Hispanic community in the state.

Minnesota House – Peggy Bennett defeated a Democratic incumbent by more than 13 points.

Nevada – Victoria de la Guerra-Seaman’s victory gave Republicans control of the Nevada Assembly by more than 12 points in a district Obama won by 16. Victoria will be the first Latina Republican in the Nevada Assembly. Becky Harris was in the number one target seat for control of the Nevada Senate. She won by more than 10 points in a district overwhelmingly won by Obama, giving Republicans control. Barbara Cegavske was elected secretary of state, a key Republican pick up.

New Mexico House –Sarah Maestas Barnes, a Mexican-American laywer and Conrad James, an African-American engineer, won in Obama districts on Tuesday gave Republicans control of the New Mexico House.

New York Senate – Sue Serino beat a Democratic incumbent by five points, giving Republicans an outright majority in the New York State Senate.

Ohio House - Niraj Antani won by more than 29 points, expanding a supermajority in a traditional battleground state. Niraj is the first Indian-American Republican state elected official in OH history. He is also the youngest member in the Ohio House.

Pennsylvania House –Harry Lewis, Jr, an African-American educator, won by nearly eight points and Kate Klunk was victorious, helping Republicans expand their majority in a heavily targeted chamber.

West Virginia House - Jill Upson, an African-American woman, won the number one target seat in the fight for control of the West Virginia House by 12 points. Her victory gave the GOP a chamber pick up. Jill is the first Republican African-American woman elected to the West Virginia House.

Wisconsin Assembly – Nancy VanderMeer won by nearly six points, helping Republicans expand their majority to the highest levels since 1957.

RSLC’s newly formed Judicial fairness Initiative also had a successful night in its inaugural election, winning a close and hard fought retention election bto the Illinois Supreme Court, as well as winning seats in Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina and Texas to hold Republican majorities in those states’ courts.

About the Republican State Leadership Committee
For 12 years, the Republican State Leadership Committee has elected down-ballot Republicans. The RSLC is the umbrella organization for the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee (RLCC), the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association (RLGA), the Republican Secretaries of State Committee (RSSC), the Future Majority Project (FMP), “Right Women, Right Now” (RWRN), the Judicial Fairness Initiative (JFI) and it also manages the new top-level domain for the Republican Party, ‘.gop.’

For more information, please contact Communications Director Jill Bader 202-448-5271 or jbader@rslc.gop. Twitter: @jillbader

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