Democratic wins in these 9 states will have seismic policy consequences

[RandySF]

Maine: Medicaid expansion is coming

Janet Mills beat Republican Shawn Moody decisively — 51 percent to 43 — and Democrats flipped the one Maine Senate Seat they needed to take over that chamber. They already controlled the House.

First and foremost, the Democratic takeover means the end of Maine’s Medicaid expansion drama. Maine voters overwhelmingly approved the expansion in a ballot initiative last year, but archconservative LePage used every legal and procedural quirk in the book to slow it down. A year after the ballot initiative passed, the 70,000 low-income people Medicaid expansion would cover in Maine still don’t have Medicaid.


Colorado: Democrats could institute an ambitious environmental agenda

Democrat Jared Polis was the first openly gay man to be elected governor in US history, keeping the seat in Democratic hands, and Democrats also won the Colorado Senate to notch a new trifecta in the Rocky Mountains.

Polis ran on an ambitious policy platform, particularly on environmental issues. He wants more restrictions on fracking, and he has proposed making the state entirely dependent on renewable energy by 2040, the Denver Post reported.


Kansas: time for some centrism and some tax fights

One of the most satisfying wins of the night for Democrats was Laura Kelly toppling Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach — an immigration hardliner and former leader of Trump’s voter fraud commission — to become Kansas’s next governor.

She’ll be working with a solidly Republican legislature, which means an aggressively progressive agenda is out of the question. But that wasn’t Kelly’s style anyway. The governor-elect instead ran on expanding Medicaid and fully funding the state’s schools after years of GOP control left the state budget in tatters.


Wisconsin: a dog fight between a new Dem governor and GOP legislature

Wisconsin was another big Democratic win in the governor’s race, with Democratic state schools superintendent Tony Evers finally toppling Republican Gov. Scott Walker as he sought his third term. But the state legislature is still firmly in Republican hands.

It’ll be an adjustment in the Badger State, after nearly a decade of total GOP control. And despite Walker’s loss, the remaining Republican leaders don’t sound like they plan to play nice with Evers. House Speaker Robin Vos is already talking about trying to claw back power from the executive branch in the lame duck session, to limit Evers’s ability to implement his agenda on his own.


New Mexico: Michelle Lugan Grisham targets a minimum wage hike and early education

Grisham won back the governor’s mansion for Democrats, after eight years of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, and the party expanded its majorities in the state legislature.

During her campaign, Lujan Grisham said she wanted to raise the state’s minimum wage (just $7.50 currently) and pump more money into early childhood education. She has also expressed support for legalizing recreational marijuana, touting the tax revenue it could bring in.


New Mexico: Michelle Lugan Grisham targets a minimum wage hike and early education

Grisham won back the governor’s mansion for Democrats, after eight years of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, and the party expanded its majorities in the state legislature.

During her campaign, Lujan Grisham said she wanted to raise the state’s minimum wage (just $7.50 currently) and pump more money into early childhood education. She has also expressed support for legalizing recreational marijuana, touting the tax revenue it could bring in.


Connecticut: Democrats must focus on the economy with a new trifecta

Ned Lamont won in Connecticut to hold the governor’s mansion for Democrats, though it looked like they might lose it even in a good Democratic year. Lamont eked out his victory, but just barely, with outgoing Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy deeply unpopular after years of economic stagnation in the state. Democrats also took over the Connecticut Senate, which had previously been evenly split between the parties.

The governor-elect’s priorities are raising the minimum wage to $15, free tuition for community college and new property tax credits that he says will help the middle class. He needs to address the state’s pension crisis, which is bad enough to warrant a recent credit downgrade for the state government. Lamont has also predicted the state could legalize recreational marijuana during the first legislative session of his term.


Illinois: a budget fix tops a billionaire governor’s agenda

J.B. Pritzker’s win over Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has been a foregone conclusion for months, so the governor-elect and the Democratic legislature have had plenty of time to draw up their agenda for next year.

After his victory, Pritzker said his first step would be balancing the state budget, per the Journal Star. The budget is a mess: Even after some clever accounting, Illinois had, in effect, a $1.2 billion budget deficit last year. More unfunded pension liabilities — payments already promised to state workers that must be honored — has helped give it the worst credit rating of any state in the country.


New Hampshire: divided government comes to the Granite State

Popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu won an unexpectedly close reelection, but Democrats took over both chambers of the state legislature, bringing divided government to one of the nation’s most politically engaged states.

Family leave is one possible area for compromise. Democrats campaigned on six weeks of paid leave for new parents or family members who need to care for a loved one; Sununu threatened to veto a previous family leave bill, but indicated he would be open to another proposal, per the Salem Patch. The opioid crisis is also likely to be a focus, and Democrats in the state legislature have pushed a $10 million funding increase to address the epidemic, which has hit New Hampshire hard.



https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/9/18075536/midterm-elections-2018-results-governors-state-legislatures-agenda

[Johnny2X2X]

1. MICHIGAN!!

This should include MI. We elected female a Dem Governor, SOS, and Attorney General (who is openly gay.) also our first black lieutenant governor. Re-elected a woman US Senator.

Also 3 amazing props passed that legalize recreational marijuana, end gerrymandering, and make voting easy.

Big gains in both state houses too.

Michigan has a blue wave!

[roamer65]

3. Yes, Prop 1 is going to result in IL and probably other states legalizing MJ.

Prop 2 is going to shift the balance in the state legislature and in our congressional delegation.

[dalton99a]

4. Huge wins there

[smirkymonkey]

2. K&R

[sunonmars]

5. And Nevada, gop practically wiped away out of office there

[Scurrilous]

6. K&R