A Blue Wave Over the States
As making waves goes, the results of the 2026 November midterm elections couldn't have been made wavier! A "blue tsunami" was the phrase being uttered, but people didn't (or perhaps couldn't) quite believe it. Perhaps Democrats would take the House and possibly the Senate too, but surely not. Ever since the results came in though there has been euphoric celebration reverberating across the country. The hard work of candidates, election workers, volunteers, giving circles and voters triumphed to wash over big money, oligarchs, corruption and threats of election interference, restoring faith in democracy. A great deal of this work has been attributed to grassroot activism, proof that abuse of power, bullying and intimidation, and the stripping away of people's rights can only lead to a failure of governing.
Whilst high profile campaigns at the national level were achieved, such as James Talarico in Texas and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, down ballot wins have boosted power in the states building new trifectas and majorities, without which Governor veto power, the passing of ballot measures and policy making to defend against rightwing agendas would not be possible. Additionally, our community of giving circles and tireless grassroots groundwork cannot be overlooked as a huge contributing factor:
Whilst high profile Congressional campaigns dominated the national discourse, state legislatures received their fair and rightful share of publicity:
Democrats’ blue tsunami crashes into state legislatures
MSNow spoke with TSP executive director Mandara Meyers about our progress this year, how that will impact policymaking, and highlighted several TSP candidates. Mandara called state legislatures a “secret weapon” for policymaking that people will actually be able to feel.
More articles featuring The States Project
The Democratic Wave Swept State Houses Across the Country
The New York Times covered state legislative victories across the country and highlighted that TSP raised a record breaking $100 million to support the efforts.
Not just Congress: Democrats’ blue wave washes over state legislatures across US
TSP executive director Mandara Meyers was the lead quote in this sweeping piece on our consequential victories on Tuesday night.
Far from Washington, Democrats forge huge state-level gains
The Washington Post did a deep dive on state legislative gains following election day. TSP executive director Mandara Meyers is the lead quote in the story and highlights that state lawmakers will be leading on policy with Donald Trump still in office over the next two years.
The States Project's investments and electoral work paid off and the network of giving circles like State Fair contributed to these successes. With over 200 giving circles and 25,000 members, donations were able to help counter the influx of rightwing money, securing coverage and promotion of important state legislature races using ad testing and the local press project campaign methods. Ad testing allowed for coverage in paid media programs for the key state districts identified, reaching the highest possible number of voters. The local press project secured news stories in local media outlets to promote candidates, funding staff to pitch stories about them, creating wider name recognition and familiarity with voters.
State Fair placed their support in North Carolina this cycle, which saw local press project investment such as these:
Lindsey Prather (NC HD-115) — WUNC-FM:
Gov. Stein Signs Bill to Suspend NC’s Gas Tax Until Nov. 30
NC House Republicans Running TV Ads in Once-Safe Districts
Our support for North Carolina paid off, with a new House majority for the first time since 2010 and breaking the Senate supermajority, giving more governing power to lawmakers working towards improving North Carolinians’ lives. Key districts in the North Carolina House and Senate chambers that were determined by The States Project were all won!
In the North Carolina House we needed 49 seats and won 67 seats.
In the North Carolina Senate we needed 21 seats and won 24 seats.
Another aspect of these elections was the erasure of Project REDMAP, a strategy implemented by Republicans to shift party focus to state legislatures, where they invested heavily ahead of the 2010 midterms, recoginizing the power of the states in cementing their own power at the federal level. This caused huge Democrat losses, increased Republican trifectas and rightwing structural power, leaving an opening for the redrawing of Congressional maps. Thanks to our collective work, Project REDMAP has been dismantled:
Democrats gain full control of five state governments, further expanding their power
NBC News covered the full picture of TSP’s wins at the state level and with an emphasis on the full number of trifectas created. TSP executive director Mandara Meyers is the sole voice in the piece.
Midterms offer a road map for Democrats and highlight risks for Republicans
TSP executive director Mandara Meyers was quoted highlighting why our victories were significant.
Governor Josh Shapiro and Senator Vincent Hughes uplifted The States Project as a critical partner during their post-election press conference.
New Trifectas
Additional Chamber Flips and Rightwing Supermajorities that have been broken or prevented
Last year, a redistricting campaign was launched by Republican's after being tasked by Donald Trump to garner more seats. Since then, many states responded with their own redrawing of maps, or took preventative measures to counter these Gerrymandering attempts. For a while, this looked like an uphill battle to further voter dilution and election interference. Despite off year victories in Virginia, where State Fair also put their support into in 2025, counter redistricting met a roadblock and a referendum amendment was ultimately denied.
Yet the midterm results showed that the Republican Gerrymandering campaign was ultimately a failure.
Trump’s Redistricting Plan Was A ‘Complete And Utter Disaster’ — And The Fallout Isn’t Over
Karl Rove’s infamous Project REDMAP swamped state legislatures in 2010 – and The States Project powered a wave that erased that progress on Tuesday. The HuffPost highlighted this fact and quoted TSP executive director Mandara Meyers on its implications.
Co-Founder of The States Project Daniel Squadron shared more on this and Project REDMAP here:
These results leave us motivated, not complacent. There are still 2 years until the next Presidential Election and 2 more years to build on this success. We can't wait!
