Republicans unveil historic investments to defend majorities in state legislatures – Washington Examiner

EXCLUSIVE — Republicans are pouring historic amounts of money into key states to defend their control of the majority of state legislature chambers across the country as attention shifts from national races to those lower on the ballot.

The Republican State Legislative Committee will spend $38 million across 20 states as part of their efforts to maintain control over most legislative chambers, marking the largest investment the group has ever made. That investment brings the organization’s total spending to $50 million for the 2024 cycle, a record-high for the committee.

“While most eyes are on the presidential election with the first debate set for next week, and with both parties readying to hold their national conventions during the next two months, the battle for control of the states is heating up and should not go unnoticed,” the group said in a memo first obtained by the Washington Examiner. “The greatest long-term threat to our party is undoubtedly the possibility that Democrats this year could regain control of the majority of our nation’s state legislative chambers.”

The money will go toward independent groups and PACs affiliated with the RSLC as well as individual candidates running in key state legislative races — especially those in battleground target states.

Republicans currently control 57 state legislative chambers across the country, giving them a slight advantage over Democrats, who have majorities in 49 chambers. Thanks to tight margins in a handful of states, Democrats only need to flip 33 seats across five chambers to win a majority of state legislatures nationwide, a title held by Republicans since 2010.

The RSLC initially launched a list of target seats in 2023 containing a list of GOP-held chambers that are at risk of being flipped by Democrats. Now, the group is updating that list to include majorities to defend, majorities to flip out of Democratic control, and even supermajorities that are possible to obtain.

Much of the latest financial investment will go toward defending majorities in five states: the state House and Senate in Arizona; both chambers in Wisconsin; the state Senate in Pennsylvania; the state House and Senate in New Hampshire; and both chambers in Georgia.

Additionally, the RSLC is targeting the state House chambers in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota as key opportunities to flip into GOP control.

The group will also turn its focus to defending state legislative chambers in which Republicans hold a supermajority, meaning the party holds a veto-proof majority against the governor or opposing party. Those include the state Senate in Iowa as well as both chambers in Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, and Ohio.

The group is also looking to obtain supermajorities in the Iowa House and South Carolina Senate.

Additionally, the RSLC will be investing in states to weaken Democratic supermajorities as part of its efforts to “erode these overwhelming margins, restoring more balanced legislative power.” Those states include Illinois, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington.

“Focused efforts in states like these can pave the way for more substantial influence in shaping state-level policies and strengthening our party’s national presence,” the memo states. “Our focus remains on securing majorities, but we will also continue to lay the foundation for long-term success in these blue states. We are strategically investing in key states to break Democratic strongholds and build new majorities that will endure through the decade.”

The push by RSLC comes as Democratic groups have similarly announced massive investments in flipping state legislative seats to target Republican supermajorities. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee announced a $10 million investment last week, bringing the group’s total to $60 million for the 2024 cycle.

That money will go toward chambers in Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, as well as other candidates in solidly red states such as Idaho and Oklahoma.

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In its memo, the RSLC acknowledged the fundraising prowess of its Democratic counterparts, pointing to its “multiple well-funded groups engaged in state legislative races.” However, the group expressed confidence in its ability to defend GOP majorities, arguing it has a more focused strategy heading into the election.

“We can know for certain that every dollar we spend between now and Election Day will be part of a national, data-driven strategy that maximizes efficiency. That cannot be said for the other side,” the memo states. “The way we make up for the spending disparity this year is by making our investments in battleground states as early as possible, while the multiple national Democrat groups focused on state legislative races are still squabbling amongst themselves over who will be accountable for what.”