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The Pitched Battles for Partisan Control in State Legislatures

Published

1 year ago

January 13, 2025

The Pitched Battles for Partisan Control in State Legislatures

In Minnesota, Democratic legislators are threatening to stay away from the state capitol this week to prevent Republicans from trying to claim control of the House of Representatives.

In Michigan, Republican senators, who are just one seat behind the Democrats, want a special election as soon as possible to fill a seat they believe can be flipped.

And in Virginia, Democratic candidates in three special elections last week were pushing hard to retain their majorities in both legislative chambers, as Democrats try to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution.

As state legislatures convene around the country this month, several knife-edge fights for partisan control have magnified the degree to which political polarization has become ingrained, not just in Congress, but in statehouses across the country.

The battle to gain the upper hand puts pressure in particular on Democratic lawmakers, who, unlike the past four years, face even higher stakes. They are already are playing defense as President-elect Donald J. Trump prepares to take office again, bolstered by the Republican takeover of Congress.

“With Trump and his MAGA allies in the states returning to office, building and defending Democratic power in the states is essential,” said Heather Williams, the president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.

Republicans now control a majority of statehouses. But Democrats captured four state legislatures in 2022, and they parlayed that power into progressive laws related to abortion, voting rights and more.

In 2024, though, Republicans, arguing that Democrats had gone too far, regained the majority in the Michigan House, tied in the Minnesota House and made strong inroads in Vermont.

Since Election Day, the most dramatic battle has been unfolding in Minnesota. State Senator Kari Dziedzic, a Democrat from Minneapolis, died of cancer, leaving the chamber deadlocked at 33-33.

“There’s nothing that can be done until a special election happens,” Representative Lisa Demuth, the House Republican leader and speaker-designate, said in an interview. “The problem with saying, ‘Well, it’ll be in a couple of weeks, we should just act like we’re at 67 anyway’ — that’s not how math works.”

She has also suggested that a Republican majority would refuse to seat Representative Brad Tabke, a Democrat who won re-election by 14 votes after 20 absentee ballots were lost. Six of those 20 voters later testified that they had voted for Mr. Tabke, giving him an insurmountable margin. A judge is expected to rule at any moment, but Ms. Demuth said there should be a special election, regardless of what the judge decided.

In response, Democrats have floated the possibility of boycotting the session, with the aim of denying the Republicans the necessary quorum — a majority of total members must be present — to kick it off.

Recent walkouts elsewhere have underscored the partisan divide. In Texas, House Democrats fled the state for Washington in 2021 to temporarily deny Republicans the two-thirds quorum needed to pass a restrictive voting measure.

In Oregon — which also has a two-thirds quorum requirement — Republican Senators intent on stalling bills on climate policy, taxes and abortion walked out so frequently that voters altered the state constitution to ban such absenteeism. Most Republican Senators were also barred from seeking re-election.

But a walkout of the kind being discussed in Minnesota would be without precedent, said Bill Kramer, the vice president and counsel of MultiState, a state and local government relations firm.

“I can’t remember any time where it’s been like this at the very start of session,” he said. “You put the rules in place, you elect a speaker, you elect committee chairs — all of those types of things which put in place the agenda procedurally for the next two years.”

In Virginia, two of the contests last week were for the Senate, and one for the House; before these special elections, Democrats were clinging to single-vote majorities in both chambers, which they claimed when they won the House in 2023. At stake, to some degree, was the agenda of outgoing Republican governor Glenn Youngkin, who is prevented by the state constitution from running for a second term.

Turnout was light for the election in Loudoun County, where one House race and one Senate race were on the ballot. Harish Sundaraman, 24, said he was voting for both Democrats, even though he did not fully subscribe to the party’s policies. He would have liked to have known a little more about the candidates, he said. But he was motivated by his views on abortion rights, which Democrats hope to advance in the coming legislative session.

“I thought if I vote Democrat in this local election, it might be helpful,” said Mr. Sundaraman, who works in information technology in Washington, D.C.

Ultimately, two Democrats and a Republican prevailed, leaving the balance of power unchanged.

Overall, Republicans now control the legislature in 28 states, and Democrats 18. (The other states are split, unresolved or led by a bipartisan coalition.)

A single vote can be momentous, even in states where one party dominates. In North Carolina, a legislator who unexpectedly switched her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican enabled Republican leaders to enact a 12-week limit on most abortions in 2023, overriding Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat.

Few sitting state legislators have had more experience with the whiplash of paper-thin margins than the members of the Pennsylvania House. After 2022, Pennsylvania was one of only two states where different parties held control of the legislature’s two chambers. Though Republicans held a comfortable majority in the Senate, the Democrats’ hold on the House was nerve-wrackingly precarious, at times vanishing altogether.

In 2024, despite losses by Democrats in the presidential race, a U.S. Senate seat and several Congressional seats, not a single seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives flipped. The Democrats thus maintained the same one-seat majority they had two years earlier.

Then, in December, a Democratic member had a medical emergency, and he has been in the hospital ever since. As it had multiple times in the previous two years, the House returned to a functional tie.

But when House members gathered on Tuesday, the first day of the new session, the election of a speaker went forward smoothly and relatively quickly, without the backroom deals and prolonged drama that had surrounded the vote two years ago. Partly as a result of compromises with Republicans over House procedural rules, the legislature promptly re-elected the previous Democratic speaker in a voice vote.

“I think everybody has learned their lesson,” said Representative Michael Schlossberg, a Democrat, describing himself as the “majority whip with no room for error.” The last two years have had their challenges, he said, but a narrow partisan margin does have its advantages, forcing compromise and discipline.

As for lessons for his counterparts in other states, he offered this: “Do not confuse short-term advantage with long-term advantage.”

And, mentioning various maneuvers for partisan gain that had ultimately backfired, he added: “Don’t get too cute.”

Courtney Mabeus-Brown contributed reporting from Loudoun County, Va.

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Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links

Published

1 hour ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links

Former president Bill Clinton is scheduled to give deposition Friday to a congressional committee investigating his links to Jeffrey Epstein, one day after Hillary Clinton testified before the committee and called the proceedings “partisan political theatre” and “an insult to the American people”.

During remarks before the House oversight committee, Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, insisted on Thursday that she had never met Epstein.

The former Democratic president, however, flew on Epstein’s private jet several times in the early 2000s but said he never visited his island.

Clinton, who engaged in an extramarital affair while president and has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, also appears in a photo from the recently released files, in a hot tub with Epstein and a woman whose identity is redacted.

Clinton has denied the sexual misconduct claims and was not charged with any crimes. He also has not been accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein.

Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times during the early years of Clinton’s presidency, according to White House visitor records cited in news reports. Clinton said he cut ties with him around 2005, before the disgraced financier, who died from suicide in 2019, pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor in Florida.

The House committee subpoenaed the Clintons in August. They initially refused to testify but agreed after Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt.

The Clintons asked for their depositions to be held publicly, with the former president stating that to do so behind closed doors would amount to a “kangaroo court”.

“Let’s stop the games + do this the right way: in a public hearing,” Clinton said on X earlier this month.

The committee’s chair, James Comer, did not grant their request, and the proceedings will be conducted behind closed doors with video to be released later.

On Thursday, Hillary Clinton’s proceedings were briefly halted after representative Lauren Boebert leaked an image of Clinton testifying.

During the full day deposition, Clinton said she had no information about Epstein and did not recall ever meeting him.

Before the deposition, Comer said it would be a long interview and that one with Bill Clinton would be “even longer”.

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Read Judge Schiltz’s Order

Published

11 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

CASE 0:26-cv-00107-PJS-DLM

Doc. 12-1 Filed 02/26/26

Page 5 of 17

and to file a status update by 11:00 am on January 20. ECF No. 5. Respondents never provided a bond hearing and did not release Petitioner until January 21, ECF Nos. 10, 12, after failing to file an update, ECF No. 9. Further, Respondents released Petitioner subject to conditions despite the Court’s release order not providing for conditions. ECF Nos. 5, 12–13.

Abdi W. v. Trump, et al., Case No. 26-CV-00208 (KMM/SGE)

On January 21, 2026, the Court ordered Respondents, within 3 days, to either (a) complete Petitioner’s inspection and examination and file a notice confirming completion, or (b) release Petitioner immediately in Minnesota and confirm the date, time, and location of release. ECF No. 7. No notice was ever filed. The Court emailed counsel on January 27, 2026, at 10:39 am. No response was provided.

Adriana M.Y.M. v. David Easterwood, et al., Case No. 26-CV-213 (JWB/JFD)

On January 24, 2026, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and ordered Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release, or anticipated release, within 48 hours. ECF No. 12. Respondent was not released until January 30, and Respondents never disclosed the time of release, instead describing it as “early this morning.” ECF No. 16.

Estefany J.S. v. Bondi, Case No. 26-CV-216 (JWB/SGE)

On January 13, 2026, at 10:59 am, the Court ordered Respondents to file a letter by 4:00 pm confirming Petitioner’s current location. ECF No. 8. After receiving no response, the Court ordered Respondents, at 5:11 pm, to immediately confirm Petitioner’s location and, by noon on January 14, file a memorandum explaining their failure to comply with the initial order. ECF No. 9. Respondents did not file the memorandum, requiring the Court to issue another order. ECF No. 12. On January 15, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and required Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release within 48 hours. ECF No. 18. On January 20, having received no confirmation, the Court ordered Respondents to comply immediately. ECF No. 21. Respondents informed the Court that Petitioner was released in Minnesota on January 17, but did not specify the time. ECF No. 22.

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Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

Published

13 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

James Hickman holds a photo montage of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

Nam Y. Huh/AP

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Nam Y. Huh/AP

CHICAGO — A line of mourners streamed through a Chicago auditorium Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. as cross-country memorial services began in the city the late civil rights leader called home.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson died Tuesday at the age of 84.

The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born.

Family members wiped away tears as the casket was brought into the stately brick building. Flowers lined the sidewalks where people waiting to enter watched a large screen playing video excerpts of Jackson’s notable speeches. Some raised their fists in solidarity.

The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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Inside, Jackson’s children, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Rev. Al Sharpton were among those who stood by the open casket to shake hands and hug those coming to view the body of Jackson, dressed in a suit and blue shirt and tie.

“The challenge for us is that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain,” Sharpton told reporters. “Dr. King’s dream and Jesse Jackson’s mission now falls on our shoulders. We’ve got to stand up and keep it going.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks as Jesse Jackson Jr. listens after the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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Jackson died last week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.

Remembrances have already poured in from around the globe, and several U.S. states, including Minnesota, Iowa and North Carolina, are flying flags at half-staff in his honor.

But perhaps nowhere has his death been felt as strongly as in the nation’s third-largest city, where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children, including a son who is a congressman.

Bouquets have been left outside the family’s Tudor-style home on the city’s South Side for days. Public schools have offered condolences, and city trains have used digital screens to display Jackson’s portrait and his well-known mantra, “I am Somebody!”

People wait to enter the security checkpoint for the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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His causes, both in the United States and abroad, were countless: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.

Family members stand in front of a portrait of the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

How the Rev. Jesse Jackson transformed American politics

“We honor him, and his hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago,” the mayor said in a statement.

Next week, Jackson will lie in honor at the South Carolina Statehouse, followed by public services. According to Rainbow PUSH’s agenda, Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to deliver remarks; however, the governor’s office said Thursday that his participation wasn’t yet confirmed. Jackson spent his childhood and started his activism in South Carolina.

Details on services in Washington have not yet been made public. However, he will not lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.

The two weeks of events will wrap up next week with a large celebration of life gathering at a Chicago megachurch and finally, homegoing services at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Family members said the services will be open to all.

“Our family is overwhelmed and overjoyed by the amazing amount of support being offered by common, ordinary people who our father’s life has come into contact with,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said before the services began. “This is a unique opportunity to lay down some of the political rhetoric and to lay down some of the division that deeply divides our country and to reflect upon a man who brought people together.”

The family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives as Yusep Jackson wipes his eyes before public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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The services included prayers from some of the city’s most well-known religious leaders, including Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. Mourners of all ages — from toddlers in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs — came to pay respects.

Video clips of his appearances at news conferences, the campaign trail and even “Sesame Street” also played inside the auditorium.

Claudette Redic, a retiree who lives in Chicago, said her family has respected Jackson, from backing his presidential ambitions to her son getting a scholarship from a program Jackson championed.

“We have generations of support,” she said. “I’m hoping we continue.”