Sweeping Democratic victories in off-year elections seem to be foreshadowing a very good midterms for the party, and one expert believes it’s even bigger than that.

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally transform legislative power,” Heather Williams, president of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), which focuses on electing Democrats to statehouses, told Mother Jones.

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This is more than a potential repeat of the 2018 blue wave, Williams added. “We are looking at the makings of an environment that looks more like 2010 in reverse.”

In 2010, the publication explains, Republicans gained almost 700 seats and flipped 22 legislative chambers nationwide. The party also took power during critical redistricting years, allowing it to continue its reign.

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An analysis from the DLCC called 2025 “one of the strongest election years for Democrats in modern history.”

On November 4, Democrats annihilated their Republican and independent opponents in everything from gubernatorial and mayoral races to judicial retention votes to state legislative elections to commission races, as well as in a historic, unprecedented ballot measure.

Analysts have said the Democrats could not have had a better night, as candidates across the country not only won their elections but, in many cases, made history. And in many races, Democrats won by such large margins that news organizations declared winners within minutes of polls closing.

“This is as big as it gets,” said MSNBC host Joe Scarborough at the time.

Just this week, Miami elected its first Democratic mayor in almost thirty years.

DLCC believes 2026 will bring Democrats an opportunity to flip more than 650 state legislative seats and create new majorities and trifectas in dozens of states. Its report includes a breakdown of its targeted chambers in 27 states.

“State legislatures are at the foundation of our democracy,” the report explains, “and state legislators are the party’s most authentic and trusted leaders and communicators. They live in their communities, have the closest connections to the day-to-day lives of Americans, and are effective messengers in every corner of their states.”

Williams pointed out that state legislatures are the ones drawing district maps and that electing Democratic state representatives is critical in preventing widespread Republican gerrymandering.

The DLCC, she said, is committed to as much Democratic success as possible and is planning to spend $50 million – its largest single-year amount yet – to help Democrats win elections in 2026.

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