Democrats’ Big Statehouse Wins Could Transform Climate and Energy Policy

Before Tuesday’s election, Republicans held more governorships and state legislative seats than Democrats, along with an advantage in state trifectas—unified control of the governor’s office and both chambers of the legislature.

That advantage has disappeared, clearing the path for more climate and clean energy legislation, according to analysts and advocates.

Democrats swept the vast majority of competitive races at the state level, flipping control of governors’ offices from Republicans in Georgia, Iowa, Ohio, Nevada and Texas.

Democrats have a 29-19 edge in governorships, with Kansas too close to call and Alaska likely to take a while to declare a winner.

The party is on track for a net gain of hundreds of legislative seats, potentially giving it control of more nationwide than Republicans for the first time in more than a decade. Going into the election, Republicans had 4,072 seats and Democrats held 3,257, according to MultiState, a research and lobbying firm. Democrats had a net gain of more than 350 seats on Tuesday and are likely to add several hundred more as results continue to be tabulated, according to MultiState. 

Democrats won five new trifectas: Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with Arizona likely to be the sixth once officials finish counting. Those additions would give the party 22 trifectas, with Republicans holding unified control in 18 states and nine with split control.

Republicans lost trifectas in Iowa, Georgia, Texas, New Hampshire and Ohio. Before the election, Republicans had trifectas in 23 states, Democrats had 18 and 11 were under split control.

The implications for climate and energy policy are likely to be profound, said Caroline Spears, executive director of Climate Cabinet, an advocacy group.

“In the states, we had a generational political window shift to make people’s lives better, to lower costs and to lower climate pollution at the same time,” she said in a conference call.

This was the “affordability election” with concerns about inflation and high energy prices, she said.

Newly elected lawmakers will enter office with energy policy proposals to address voter concerns, she said. She noted that renewable energy is less expensive than fossil fuels and can be developed quickly, promising rapid benefits for consumers. The growth of electric transportation reduces greenhouse gas emissions and shields consumers from the volatility of gasoline and diesel, she said.

Jay Inslee, former Democratic governor of Washington and a prominent advocate for climate and clean energy policies, urged lawmakers to seize this opportunity.

Inslee took a jab at President Donald Trump, calling him the election’s clear loser, even though he wasn’t on the ballot.

“The chief climate denier got his head handed to him,” Inslee said.

John Farrell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a research and advocacy nonprofit, said in an interview that he is excited to see what comes next with the new trifectas.

“There is this growing sense that more accountability measures are needed in order to rein in [utility] rates, and that utility companies are central to that problem,” he said.

Farrell sees an opportunity for Wisconsin to catch up with neighboring states that have already established climate and clean energy agendas. He’s pleased that Democrats’ legislative majorities in Minnesota are large enough to give the party leeway to propose more ambitious policies. In Michigan, he is encouraged by residents calling for publicly owned utilities and pushing back against the influence of large utilities.

In the past, Farrell might have worried that utilities would stave off consumer-friendly policies by showering newly elected Democrats with campaign donations. But he thinks scenarios like this are less likely now because the public is wary of candidates they view as puppets for large companies. And some candidates have shown it’s possible to win without accepting money from utilities.

“We’re in a moment right now where there is enough scrutiny to make it harder for that sort of check-writing strategy to be successful,” he said.

More on the six states that attained trifectas or are on track to do so:

Arizona: Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs cruised to re-election and her party was on track to win majorities in the state House and Senate, although officials are still counting ballots in many races. Analysts said a Democratic trifecta is likely based on available results.

Michigan: Democrat Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state, won the governor’s race. Democrats expanded their majority in the state Senate and gained a majority in the state House, with some races still being counted.

Minnesota: Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar was elected governor by a wide margin. The party expanded its majority in the state Senate and turned an even split with Republicans in the state House into a comfortable majority, with counting still underway.

Nevada: Democrat Aaron Ford, the state attorney general, defeated the incumbent Republican governor, Joe Lombardo. Democrats also retained control of the state House and Senate.

Wisconsin: Democrat David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, was elected governor. Democrats flipped control of both chambers of the Legislature, with an 18-15 majority in the state Senate and a 53-46 majority in the state House.

Pennsylvania: Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro easily won re-election. His party gained a 26-24 majority in the state Senate and expanded its majority in the state House to 111-88, with four races still being counted.

Other stories about the energy transition to take note of this week:  

Democrats Seize Congress, Statehouses in Referendum on the Economy: Voters propelled Democrats to victory on Tuesday, propelled by voter frustration over inflation, corruption and the unchecked spread of data centers, as my colleague Marianne Lavelle and I report for ICN. The party took control of both chambers of Congress.

Michigan Voters Approve Referendum to Get Utilities’ Money Out of Politics: On a day when Democrats won big in Michigan, voters also passed a ballot measure that limits utilities from donating to the officials that regulate them, as Kelly House reports for Bridge Michigan. In addition to covering utilities such as DTE, the measure also applies to companies with more than $250,000 in government contracts.

China Bets on Renewable Energy to Gain an AI Edge: Chinese companies see access to renewable energy as an advantage for building data centers, as my colleague Andrew Liu reports. Envision Energy, a wind turbine supplier, illustrates the model with its data center in Inner Mongolia, which opened in August and runs on renewable electricity generated on-site.

Cranberry Bogs With a Side of Solar: Agrivoltaics—the coexistence of solar power and agriculture—has a new flavor with two Massachusetts projects that grow cranberries under solar panels, as Sarah Shemkus reports for Canary Media. The two bogs are likely the first in the country with this unexpected pairing.

Inside Clean Energy is ICN’s weekly bulletin of news and analysis about the energy transition. Send news tips and questions to [email protected].