State Legislatures Show Very Little Change Post-Election

Much of the legislation impacting the RV industry occurs at the state level, so the RV Industry Association’s state team is watching the 2020 state legislative and gubernatorial elections closely for potential keys on what to expect in 2021. These elections have thus far had very little impact on the make-up of state legislative chambers. As of the Wednesday following the election, only three chambers look likely to switch party control.

While not finalized, it appears that the Arizona House will be won by the Democrats for the first time since 1966, while Republicans will take back control of the New Hampshire House and Senate that they lost two years ago.

Party control in a few other chambers is still undetermined as many states are continuing to count ballots and may be doing so for several more days. When more complete results are in, we will know which party will be in charge in the Arizona Senate, Michigan House, Pennsylvania House, and both chambers in Nevada.

If only the two changes already known are the extent of 2020 switches, it will represent the fewest changes in party control since 1944 when four chambers changed hands, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

When you toss in the 11 gubernatorial races up for election yesterday, it was a remarkably status quo election. Only one governorship changed hands as Republican Greg Gianforte replaced term-limited Democrat Steve Bullock in Montana. That will lead to a 27-23 lead for Republican governors in 2021.

More information on state-level races can be found here and here.