The States Project, an organization focused on electing Democrats to state legislatures, has raised more than $100 million this cycle, a spokesperson told The Washington Post, surpassing the $70 million it raised in 2024.
Democrats hope big spending and deep disapproval of President Donald Trump can help reverse a decade-old trend of Republicans dominating state legislatures. A Post analysis of state legislative races found that the poor national environment for Republicans could lead Democrats to break up full Republican control in as many as six states and win unified control in as many as seven.
“This is a once in a generation opportunity to build state legislative power after decades of rightwing dominance,” Mandara Meyers, the head of the States Project, said in a statement.
Democrats famously lost nearly 1,000 seats in state legislatures during Barack Obama’s presidency.
Daniel Squadron and Adam Pritzker, the co-founders of the States Project, started the group in 2017 to address those losses.
“The attention and resources committed to renewing the American promise in states is still a fraction of what it should be,” they said in a statement.
Republicans historically have paid more attention to state legislative races than Democrats. The Republican State Leadership Committee and its affiliated policy group raised over $100 million in the 2024 cycle.
The States Project is spending to win Democratic trifectas in states including Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin; break up or keep Republicans out of supermajorities in states including Iowa, Kansas, North Carolina and Ohio; and break Republican trifectas in New Hampshire, Texas and Georgia.
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