What happened to Democrats at the state and local levels? Some clues/possible explanations...

[YoungDemCA]

The GOP now controls 68 out of 98 partisan state legislative chambers -- the highest number in the history of the party. Republicans currently hold the governorship and both houses of the legislature in 23 states (24 if Sean Parnell wins re-election in Alaska), while Democrats have that level of control in only seven.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/11/11/the_other_gop_wave_state_legislatures__124626.html

(apologies for using RCP as a source....)

The Republican strategy:

Every 10 years following the census, states redraw the boundaries of House districts to account for population changes. Some states gain seats and others lose them, so the overall total remains 435. In most states, the legislature and the governor draw up the new districts, which is why political parties pay special attention to elections at the start of each decade.

“I think Democrats made a terrible mistake. They did not put nearly enough attention or resources into legislative races at the state level,” said Matt Bennett, a former aide to President Bill Clinton. “A bunch of these legislatures slipped by very narrow margins, and some of them flipped for the first time since Reconstruction in the South.”

For Republicans, it was a combination of luck and planning. The political winds were in their favor, but they also had been plotting for years to take full advantage of redistricting.

The project was called REDMAP, which stood for Redistricting Majority Project. It called for targeting statehouse races in states that were expected to gain or lose congressional seats following the census. GOP strategists reasoned that redistricting could have a greater impact in these states because there would have to be more changes to district boundaries, said Chris Jankowski, former president of the Republican State Leadership Committee, which heads up the party’s national effort to elect candidates to state offices.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/gop-gerrymandering-creates-uphill-fight-dems-house/


Meanwhile, at both the state and the local levels...the "State Policy Network" has been very busy.

SPN is a national network of state-based right-wing organizations in 37 states as well as prominent nationwide right-wing organizations. Through its network SPN advances the public policy ideas of the expansive right-wing political movement on the state and local level.

Due to SPN's state think tank network, smaller organizations have met with success by following the Heritage Foundation model of extensive public relations to court the media and politicians in an effort to have more impact on public policy. The agenda of Heritage and most of SNP's network members are nearly identical: privatization of most public services and hostility to public education.

snip:

SPN's Members and Associates: [partial list]

Acton Institute
Alabama Policy Institute
American Legislative Exchange Council
Allegheny Institute for Public Policy
Americans for Tax Reform
Arkansas Policy Foundation
Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
Cascade Policy Institute
Commonwealth Foundation
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Foundation for Economic Education
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
Georgia Public Policy Foundation
Heartland Institute
Heritage Foundation
Institute for Justice
Landmark Legal Foundation
Mackinac Center for Public Policy
National Center for Policy Analysis
Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Research Institute
Pioneer Institute
Reason Foundation
Southeastern Legal Foundation


SPN Quotes:

"The number of state think tanks has tripled during the past decade. In 1989, there were 12 independent, market-oriented, state-based public policy research organizations. Now there are 40 groups in 37 states, complementing the many national groups promoting free market policy solutions."

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/state-policy-network#sthash.m98B0PuR.dpuf

By 2014, there were 65 member organizations, and at least one in each state.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Policy_Network#Overview

This is where the real fight is, IMHO. And we - Democrats, liberals, progressives, the Left - are losing this fight. Though, who said anything about it being a fair fight?

[vi5]

1. We were (and are) too focused on the WH and Senate...

Obviously those are important. But the day to day stuff at the state level we pretty much conceded to Republicans way too much across the board.

[moondust]

2. 2010.

I remember some big money guys on the Right deciding to focus a lot of energy on state races in the 2010 midterms given the rise of the Baggers after 2008 and, I suspect, seeing the opportunity for redistricting. Undemocratic RW scheming and voter suppression weren't as pervasive or threatening at that time so maybe Democrats didn't anticipate the threat.

Governor election results: At least 10 states flip Republican

Unfortunately, a lot of the RW gains in 2010 and after may have had a lot to do with energized racists feeding on years of RW propaganda after the election and then reelection of Barack Obama.

[Mnemosyne]

3. K&R nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Been singing that song for ever

But White House.

The other place is not following a50 state strategy consistently.

My pet theory... Many of those state legislators are actually to the left of the DC establishment. Some, gasp I know, might challenge that establishment in primaries.

So if they are not there who's to worry?