Something strange happened to the blue wave that was supposedly on its way – it disappeared.
The former President Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder spent years raising money to win the battle for state legislators so that the Democrats could manipulate the U.S. House for the next decade. Lisa Nelson, the head of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), estimates that the Democrats beat the Republicans by at least three to one in the state legislative races.
The left-wing propaganda media talked for months about the coming blue wave and the smashing of the GOP in an anti-trump tide.
The big internet companies censored conservatives and republicans more and more as the election approached.
But by the time the state legislature elections were over, Republicans had created a populist, grassroots tsunami that defeated the Democrats and set the stage for a decade of creativity at the state level.
Republicans now hold majorities in both houses of 31 state legislatures and hold the Senate of the State of Minnesota. Minnesota is the only state with shared control of the legislature and a good example of the frustration that Democrats feel after their blue wave evaporates. The state’s Democratic Farmer Labor Party spent $18 million to win the state Senate and went away empty-handed.
The Democrats have legislative control in only 18 states.
In addition, Republicans control the legislature and governorships in 23 states with about 136 million citizens. In contrast, Democrats control the legislature and governorships in only 15 states with 120 million citizens (of which more than 39 million are in California). Republicans control the legislature in seven states with Democratic governors, while Democrats control the legislature in only three states with Republican governors.
Some of the local contests were vividly one-sided in favor of the red tsunami.
Edith Jorge-Tuñón, the political director of the Republican Governance Committee, told me that Iowa and Texas were two great case studies for the Democrats’ failure to create a blue wave.
Iowa has been enormously competitive at all levels this year. The Democrats’ attempt to defeat Senator Joni Ernst was massive (and failed). In the race for the U.S. House, the Republicans won a decisive victory and kept the seat they already had. The Democrats fell from three seats to one. In the last district, as I write, Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks is ahead by six votes in the closest election to the House of Representatives since 1984.
The Democrats spent millions in Iowa, but the Republicans were able to win six seats in the state legislature, half of them in the Des Moines area, the state’s largest city (which includes six surrounding counties). All three districts that were won in the Des Moines area were suburbs.
In Texas – the second most populous state in the country and a state where Democrats convince themselves every two years that they are on the brink of victory (remember Beto O’Rourke and his massively expensive Senate campaign against Ted Cruz) – the Democrats were sure that they would have a chance to win suburban seats in big cities like Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. When the campaign was over, the Democrats faced an epic failure. They spent millions to get net zero seats. The Republicans held the line in all but one district, including nine where Beto won in 2018. In addition, the Republicans won one seat from the Democrats. So after all their efforts, the Democrats had to consider this campaign a huge waste of money.
The red tsunami came because the American people rejected Democratic radicalism, and a new generation of Republican candidates brought new energy, ideas and supporters to the GOP.
In Georgia, Republicans elected their first Latin American state senator (Jason Anavitarte).
In Kansas, Republicans elected the youngest woman to the Kansas State Senate (Kristen O’Shea).
In Ohio, Republicans elected their first Indian-American state senator (Niraj Antani).
In Arizona, the Republican candidates had a success rate of 60 percent and made up about 36 percent of the Republican winners.
In these turbulent times, every Republican can be confident that there is a Republican tsunami building at the grassroots and in the states that will overwhelm the imaginary blue wave and create dynamic opportunities in 2021 and 2022.
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The views expressed in this article are those of the author.
