Democrats Win Big in 2017 Elections

Public Policy Alert
November.08.2017

Democrats saw big gains across the board on election night 2017 and exit polls showed voters intended the results to be a clear rebuke of the Trump administration.

Democrats will have two new “tri-fectas” where they control the Governor’s office and both chambers of the legislature in New Jersey and Washington. Moving forward Democrats will have eight tri-fectas while Republicans hold 26. Nationally Democrats will control 33 legislative chambers to 66 held by Republicans, a net gain of two chambers last night for Democrats.

Historical trends suggest this is just the first of several bad election nights for state level Republicans to come. The party in control of the White House historically loses state level elections. Under President Obama the Democratic party lost 913 state legislative seats. Republicans under George W. Bush lost 324 and Democrats under Bill Clinton lost 524. Large partisan swings are becoming more of the norm in American politics and that norm will continue under President Trump.

Virginia

Governor Elect Ralph Northam led a sweep of the statewide offices for Democrats defeating former RNC chairman Ed Gillespie. Democrat Justin Fairfax won election as Lt. Governor and current Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring won reelection.
Democrats picked up 16 seats in the House of Delegates to create a tie for control at 50 seats each. There are at least three seats that will likely go to a recount. Republicans currently lead in two of those races with the Democrat up in one. A change in the result of any of those races will break the tie in the chamber. In previous years where partisan control was close, defections from one party to the other and/or strategic appointments by the Governor to create vacancies have resolved the tie and those are a strong possibility this year as well.

Washington

Democrats likely flipped control of the Senate and now hold a one seat majority. Going into election night the Washington Senate was controlled by Republicans with the help of one conservative Democrat. But Democrat Manka Dhingra is in line to beat Republican Jinyoung Lee England in a special election to fill a vacancy in a GOP held seat. Due to Washington’s mail-in voting system the race has not been officially called but trends suggest the Democrats will now control the Governor’s office and both branches of the legislature in Washington.

New Jersey

Democrat Phil Murphy took the Governor’s mansion in a widely expected victory in New Jersey. That is a flip in partisan control from Republican Governor Chris Christie.
In legislative races Democrats held majorities of 24-16 in the Senate and 52-28 in the House. With several races still too close to call, Democrats will pick up at least one seat in the Senate and may pick up a few in the House.

Georgia

In the Senate, two Democrats will compete in a run-off to fill the seat left vacant by Republican Hunter Hill. The race featured five Republicans and three Democrats. The Democratic pick-up will end the Republican super-majority in the Georgia Senate.
In the House, Democrats won two special elections to fill vacant seats previously held by Republicans.

Authors

Jeremy Kudon Partner, State Legislative & Regulatory Practice, Gaming & Gambling

New York

E[email protected]

See my bio

E: [email protected]

Practice:

Technology & Innovation Sector
State Legislative & Regulatory Practice
Gaming & Gambling
State & Federal Government Solutions
Strategic Advisory & Government Enforcement (SAGE)

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Jeremy Kudon Partner

New York

No other group in the United States - whether at a law firm, public affairs firm, or inside the Beltway - can match Jeremy and Orrick's record of success in the state legislatures. Unlike others, who specialize in tracking bills, identifying contract lobbyists (and taking a % of their fee), or developing expensive media and PR campaigns, Jeremy and his team don't specialize in any one area of state government affairs; they specialize in EVERYTHING. They learn your business, work with you on your objectives--both overall and in the state legislatures, identify threats/opportunities, develop a budget, hire contract lobbyists, draft legislation, prepare advocacy pieces, attend legislative conferences, travel to state capitols and educate members about your issue, testify before committees, develop and implement grassroots and PR campaigns, coordinate roll calls, and coordinate every aspect of both the state and overall campaign to add the most possible value to your business.

Just listen to what the media and our clients have to say – The New York Times profiled our efforts in passing online sports betting and daily fantasy sports legislation in an extensive above-the-fold report and in an episode of their podcast, “The Daily.” And from an interview with TechCruch, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said Jeremy and Orrick’s Public Policy team have “helped us go from a tech company that didn’t know a whole lot about legislative affairs and regulation to really being sophisticated there” and praised that “For anyone who’s in a disruptive industry and might be regulated, they really did a fantastic job.”

Scott Ward Partner, State & Federal Government Solutions, State Legislative & Regulatory Practice

Washington, D.C.

See my bio

D:+1 202 339 8578
E: [email protected]

Practice:

State & Federal Government Solutions
State Legislative & Regulatory Practice
Gaming & Gambling
Strategic Advisory & Government Enforcement (SAGE)

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See full bio

Scott Ward Partner

Washington, D.C.

Scott has spent years working in the political arena on both the federal and state level, promoting political and policy agendas via a national network of elected officials, policy makers and outside influence groups.

He has comprehensive experience in federal and state campaign finance, ethics, lobbying and compliance law, and assists clients in all aspects of compliance with rules related to engaging in the political process.

Prior to joining Orrick, he was the President and General Counsel of the Republican State Leadership Committee, a $30 million national political organization focused on electing Republicans to the state offices of Attorney General, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, and State Legislator. Under his leadership, the Republican State Leadership Committee made historic gains in the 2010 elections, netting a record 700 plus state legislative seats, flipping 20 state chambers to Republican control as well as netting six Attorneys General, seven Secretaries of State and three independently elected Lt. Governors.

Scott was previously in private practice with Holtzman Vogel Josefiak PLLC and Arent Fox LLP in the areas of Political law and Litigation. He advised numerous IRS § 527 political organizations, federal and state political action committees, federal and state candidates, state parties, associations, corporations and non-profits in all aspects of fundraising, organization, compliance, disclosure and reporting under federal and state campaign finance laws.

He was General Counsel and served on the Executive Committee of the District of Columbia Republican Party from 2004 to 2012. Prior to his legal career, Scott served as Field Director for Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (ARMPAC) and worked on the majority staff of the U.S. House Budget Committee for Chairman John Kasich.