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RALEIGH, N.C.—After Election Day 1994, the big news wasn’t just a GOP takeover of Congress. At the grassroots, the story was the coming parity between Democrats and Republicans in state capitals. Two states, separated by thousands of miles and very different political traditions, typified the new competition in the legislatures: North Carolina and Washington.

The GOP made its largest state legislative gains in these two states in 1994, the year of the Republican Revolution. An increase of 38 Republican legislators gave the party control of the North Carolina House and a bare minority (24-26) in the Senate. Washington Republicans picked up both legislative chambers with an historic gain of 25 seats.

About the Author

John Hood

John Hood is president of the John William Pope Foundation, a North Carolina-based grantmaker, and co-founder of Freedom Conservatism.

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RALEIGH, N.C.—After Election Day 1994, the big news wasn’t just a GOP takeover of Congress. At the grassroots, the story was the coming parity between Democrats and Republicans in state capitals. Two states, separated by thousands of miles and very different political traditions, typified the new competition in the legislatures: North Carolina and Washington.

The GOP made its largest state legislative gains in these two states in 1994, the year of the Republican Revolution. An increase of 38 Republican legislators gave the party control of the North Carolina House and a bare minority (24-26) in the Senate. Washington Republicans picked up both legislative chambers with an historic gain of 25 seats.