AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
In addition to the congressional votes in just over a week, more than 6,100 seats are up for election in state legislatures. States make most of the laws on education, taxes, reproductive rights, crime and social media access, among other things. Democrats say they see opportunities to tilt some legislatures their way this year, like in Pennsylvania, where the legislature is divided - for now. Carmen Russell-Sluchansky of member station WHYY joins us from the road in Harrisburg. Welcome.
CARMEN RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY, BYLINE: Thank you, Ayesha.
RASCOE: Can you lay out kind of the landscape for us? Who controls most state legislatures?
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Well, across 50 states, 28 have Republicans controlling both chambers while Democrats control 18 legislatures. A few legislatures, like the one here in Pennsylvania, are divided. Now, to fully understand how important the balance of power is, I talked to John Kennedy. He's a political science professor at Westchester University. He says even though races for Congress and governor get a lot of the attention, the down-ballot ones are equally important, if not more so.
JOHN KENNEDY: The fact of the matter in the day-in, day-out basis is state governments, state lawmakers, state governors have a greater impact on our everyday lives than what takes place in Washington, D.C.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: He noted that the shift toward Republicans stems from the 2010 midterm cycle when they largely swept state legislatures, and that gave them the power to solidify their holds through redistricting.
RASCOE: OK. Well, let's use Pennsylvania as an example. What difference would it make if power does or doesn't shift?
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: I mean, it could be a massive difference here. Democrats haven't controlled the legislature here for over 30 years. Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has laid out what he says Democrats will do if they win legislative control and he's reelected.
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JOSH SHAPIRO: We're going to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in the commonwealth. I'll tell you what else we're going to do. We're going to build more affordable housing and take on those utility companies that keep jacking up our rates here in Pennsylvania.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Now, his challenger, Republican state treasurer Stacy Garrity, says Shapiro shouldn't blame the Republicans for not getting things done already.
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STACY GARRITY: The governor has consistently said - used the excuse that he can't do anything because he has a divided legislature. Well, that's not what real leadership is. Real leadership - they call the leaders to the table, and you negotiate.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: By the way, you know, some Republicans I've talked to have hoped, even if Garrity doesn't win, she will be a strong enough candidate to protect those down the ballot races.
RASCOE: It seems clear these are important races. But are people actually paying attention to them?
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: You know, it's just not on as many people's radars as the congressional races or the race for governor. For example, I went to a farmers market in Wrightstown and met Jerry Scupp (ph), an independent voter in a very contested state senate district. He didn't know the candidates, like a lot of people.
JERRY SCUPP: I have to say that I'm not as tuned in as that.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Several other people I talked to said they just plan to vote on party lines. Yet there is a lot of money going into these local races. So for example, in Bucks County, Scupp's district, more than $7 million has been spent, and a lot of that is going to ads in which they're criticizing each other's positions on data centers, which has been a hot-button topic. And that's one of maybe only four toss-up districts, three in the Philly suburbs.
RASCOE: Outside of Pennsylvania, are there other states that could flip?
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Yeah. I mean, Democrats are pouring millions and millions of dollars into trying to flip chambers around the country, especially Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Arizona, New Hampshire, as well as Pennsylvania. Also it's not just about trying to flip districts. In some states, Democrats are simply looking to reduce Republican power or break the supermajorities they have that prevent Democratic governors from vetoing their bills, like in North Carolina and Kansas. I reached out to the national Republican group that works on these races. They didn't respond, but they have tried to highlight things like democratic socialists running in some of the states, and they have acknowledged that they're largely playing defense this year.
RASCOE: That's WHYY's Carmen Russell-Sluchansky. Thank you so much for joining us.
RUSSELL-SLUCHANSKY: Thank you, Ayesha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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