Where this was said
Breaking Gerrymanders: Courts, Ballot Initiatives, and Never Walking Away
At 1:08:29 · chapter starts 1:07:42
Jon Favreau surfaces a counterintuitive data point: in 2024, the Democratic side outspent the Republican State Leadership Committee by better than 3-to-1 — about $175 million to $49 million — and still lost the Minnesota trifecta and the Michigan House [1] — Jon Favreau "In 2024, Democrats outspent the Republican State Leadership Committee roughly $175 million to $49 million at the state legislative level — …" 1:07:42 . So if money isn't the constraint, what is? Williams identifies the 'attention battle': low-name-ID first-time candidates running for state legislature can't cut through in a crowded ballot environment no matter how much you spend on them. The fix requires running candidates as part of coordinated tickets with statewide races. On the harder question of gerrymandered states where legislative wins seem structurally impossible, she outlines three simultaneous strategies: never abandoning the minority caucus because those legislators still have some power, especially with a Democratic governor's veto; winning state Supreme Court races that can force map redraws (Wisconsin's turnaround is the model); and pursuing ballot initiatives to create nonpartisan redistricting commissions, as Michigan did through its People Not Politicians process.
In 2024, the Democratic side outspent the Republican State Leadership Committee roughly $175 million to $49 million at the state legislative level, yet still lost the Minnesota trifecta and Michigan House.
In 2024, Democrats outspent the Republican State Leadership Committee roughly $175 million to $49 million at the state legislative level — a ratio of better than 3-to-1 — and still lost the Minnesota trifecta and the Michigan House. The problem isn't money; it's attention. Low-name-ID first-time candidates can't cut through in a crowded ballot environment no matter how much you spend.
When Republicans gerrymander a state legislature, Democrats can't simply outspend their way to majorities. The playbook: keep your minority legislators fighting, win state Supreme Court seats to redraw maps, and use ballot initiatives to create nonpartisan redistricting commissions. Michigan's People Not Politicians process is the model.
The Democratic national brand is in the basement, yet state legislative Democrats routinely run ahead of it. The reason: they translate abstract national policy into neighborhood-level impact. As Heather Williams explained, the infrastructure bill isn't about billions of dollars — it's about cutting 40 minutes off your daily commute.
