Spring Meeting: More from the Exec. Committee -- DLCC

Continued from previous post.

The next speaker was Michael Davies of the DLCC. Their job is to simply, or not so simply, to elect Democratic legislators in 7382 state legislative districts across the country. You might recall that Governor Dean often points to a handful of state legislative victories for Democrats in 2005 and 2006: New Hampshire, Mississippi, Kentucky, Missouri, and Pennsylvania are just a few.

Davies started by thanking the DNC for its historically strong relationship with the DLCC, and 2006 is no different. He continued by documenting "the best untold story" of the 2004 election cycle. A total of ten state legislative chambers switched moved into the Democratic column in 2004, in red and blue states alike. The Colorado House and Senate, Iowa's Senate moved into a tie, both Montana chambers flipped, New Jersey's Senate was a pick-up in 2003, the North Carolina House switched in 2004, Oregon's Senate, Vermont's House, and Washington's Senate are all chambers currently led by a majority of Democrats. Davies continued that Democrats have won 90% of special elections at the state legislative level over the past two years.

The task of winning state legislative races across the country is quite complicated and takes successive cycles and consistent effort.

He went into the 2006 forecast, where Democrats are going to play a lot of defense, shoring up the gains made in 2004. The short-term targets include the Colorado House and Senate, which he regarded as "tough turf." Democrats haven't controlled both chambers since the Kennedy Administration, and holding them is going to a top priority this November. He refered to both chambers in Iowa as a "coin flip." Right now there are 49 Democrats to 51 Republicans in the House. Of those seats, 83 Democrats and 72 Republicans have filed to run thus far. He credited strong candidate recruitment in Ohio for the disparity in between parties. He said they are playing aggressive offense in 11 seats, and at the same time, focused on defending 11 seats. In the Iowa Senate, it's a 25/25 tie, but there are several open-seats where we can make gains.

In Indiana, Republicans hold a 52-58 advantage in the State House. Again, there was very strong candidate recruitment by Democrats this cycle and we have a great opportunity to reclaim the chamber. There are a number of local issues that Democrats are on the right side of, including toll roads, time zones, and privatization of state facilities. In Kentucky and Maine, both chambers are incredibly close, and we are going to have to work hard to maintain our edges. Michigan is building towards a Democratic majority in 2010. Davies concluded by citing Minnesota, where we were down 30 seats going into 2004 in the House, but have since whittled the margin down to two.

Alright, now it's on to uploading pictures and video from the event.

Comments (2) «

No election should be called a "coin flip". They should be described as a toe to toe contest that we have a good chance of winning. "Coin toss" indicates a too laid-back attitude in what is probably the most important election year this country has had to date. We need a "Give 'em hell, Harry" give it all attitude. Wishy-washy attitudes toward campaigns only serves to drive people to third parties who have no chance of winning and only helps the Republicans.

1

Butte on April 23, 2006 at 10:25 AM

I'd suggest you get off your "butte" and do some actual campaign work. How dare you criticize the DLCC-- the only committee that is in touch with us on the ground?

2

free2bemyownme on April 24, 2006 at 10:14 PM

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