While Democrats acknowledge they fell short, they see this year’s results as laying the groundwork for upcoming cycles — even if they can’t help what’s happening at the top of the ticket.
“We know that cycle after cycle we build the best sailboat we can in state legislatures but we don’t control the wind at the higher level of the ballot,” said Leslie Martes, chief strategy officer for Forward Majority, a PAC that spent $45 million this cycle on supporting Democratic state legislative candidates.