whyamihere posted about this earlier but I'm pretty hopeful that Washington Democrats can take back the State Senate, as there will be a special election in a heavily Clinton, albeit GOP-held seat soon.
Winning it would take the number of states with Democratic trifectas up to a whopping seven, something we could more than double through 2018 just by winning governor's races in Clinton states (NJ in 2017, IL, MA, MD, NM, NV, VT in 2018) to go to 14.
Assuming nothing else changed in governor's races and composition of state legislatures, AK, CO, LA, ME, MN, MT, NC, PA, VA, and WV would also have split governments, meaning Republicans would have trifectas in 26 states. Of those, I would say Colorado and maybe Maine are the only ones that stand a reasonable chance of going full blue - other states are too red, too gerrymandered, or in MN's case, don't hold their State Senate elections until 2020.
We can flip a number of those GOP trifectas into split governments however by winning the governor's mansion. FL, MI, NH and WI are all obvious targets, while there are other swing states that swung hard to Trump (IA and OH) or red states that are trending bluer (AZ, GA, TX) that should be targeted. Some red states might also have odd circumstances making them more competitive, like Kansas in 2014 - I'd say going for South Carolina might not be a bad idea, as we have a lot to gain from being able to veto a gerrymander there.
And speaking of, referenda to set up independent redistricting commissions should be a top priority in 2018. DailyKos Elections had a post about this a while back. Even in red states we can squeeze out a few more House seats.
http://m.dailykos.com/story/2015/06...ng-Democrats-can-fight-back-at-the-ballot-box
So yeah, 2018. Big year. Aaron for DNC Chair.
