In addition to the presidency and U.S. Senate, Democrats have another target in next week’s elections: Evening up control of state legislative chambers for the first time in a decade.
At stake isn’t just the ability to craft state laws, but to help shape district boundaries that will influence control of legislatures and the U.S. House after this year’s census…
Democratic super PAC Forward Majority has pledged $32 million to state legislative races; and the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, created in 2017 by former President Obama and former attorney general Eric Holder, plans to spend $6 million on legislative and other state races.
“Those offices have a huge impact on whether or not elections are fair, and whether you get fair maps,” Mr. Obama said during a recent virtual event for the group.
The RSLC said it has raised more than $60 million. No other major outside groups are spending money to elect Republican state legislators nationwide.
Some of the most hotly contested races this year are in Texas, where Democrats hope to take control of the state House for the first time in 18 years. Forward Majority is planning to spend $12 million in the state, which the group’s co-founder Vicky Hausman said is the “crown jewel” of 2020 because it may gain several congressional seats in the census.