Republicans bolstered their standing Tuesday in state capitals where the party has some of its largest legislative majorities, as Donald Trump racked up at least 295 electoral votes.
The GOP has a supermajority for the first time in the South Carolina Senate; its largest House and Senate majorities in Iowa since 1970; 32 of 34 Senate seats and potentially 91 of 100 House seats in West Virginia; and 91 of 105 total seats in Idaho.
Elsewhere, Republicans maintained their supermajorities in Indiana, Kansas, North Dakota and Tennessee.
Ben Williams, who studies elections at the National Conference of State Legislatures, said Thursday on a call with reporters that “it does look like it was a pretty uniform shift across the country to the right,” but he cautioned that it’s too soon to tell for sure as elections are still being tabulated.
One exception is North Carolina, where Democrats are projected to break the GOP supermajority. While Trump carried the state with 51%, Democrats won the top three statewide executive positions of governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.
The results were more mixed in blue states. Democrats held on to a supermajority in Illinois; are on the verge of winning one in Washington; appear to have come up short in gaining one in Colorado; and are in danger of losing one in New York, as votes continue to be counted.
Overall, Republicans will likely retain 57 chambers this cycle, the same number as before the election, while Democrats will hold 38, three fewer than the 41 they held before.
Democrats lost the Michigan House, as well as the House in both Maine and Minnesota, both of which appeared likely to be tied.
There is also a powersharing coalition in the Alaska House, where Republicans hold 20 seats and Democrats and independents combine to total 20 seats.
“The last time we had three chambers where there was no majority was after the 2000 election,” Williams said. “So 2001, 2002, when the Arizona Senate, Missouri Senate and Washington House were all tied. So it’s been a quarter century since we’ve been in the position that it looks like we’re going to be in.”