'Raise Hell': In Trump Era, Blue State Dems Have Made Huge Strides

[DonViejo]

By Allegra Kirkland | April 6, 2018 6:00 am

In the year and a half since President Donald Trump’s victory, progressives have sprung into action at the state level, scoring a string of special election victories and triggering widespread expectations of a blue wave—or even a tsunami—in the 2018 midterms.

In some blue pockets of the country, we’re already seeing what that wave could yield.

Washington state has passed some 300 bills since securing full Democratic control of the legislature in a special election last November. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee has signed many of those into law, including a voting rights package that includes same-day registration and pre-registration for teenagers. Meanwhile, New Jersey, which attained trifecta Democratic control of the statehouse and governor’s mansion after Democrat Phil Murphy succeeded Chris Christie, is poised to enact the nation’s most sweeping equal pay legislation.

Still, Republicans maintain an overwhelming advantage at the state level. They have trifecta control in 26 states compared to just eight for Democrats, with significant supermajorities in many of those legislatures. The focus for most national progressive groups this year is simply chipping away at those numbers and, where they can, flipping chambers or governorships to break the GOP’s hold.

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/democrats-blue-states-raise-hell-trump-era

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Excellent article.

It clearly lays out just what we Democrats can accomplish once we get legislative control at the state level.

It also clearly points out the R's alarm at our gains. We must be on our guard to keep them from stopping us.

K&R