RALEIGH — The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) announced its full list of state legislative targets for the 2022 elections on Thursday, March 10. The list includes a total of 18 states ranging from those with Republican supermajorities to blue states such as Illinois and New York.
“We may have started the cycle exclusively trying to defend our razor-thin majorities, but the failures of President Biden and his Democrat allies in the states have created opportunities for us to go on offense in places we never could have imagined,” said RSLC President Dee Duncan. “Democrats across the country will be held accountable for standing by Joe Biden and the disastrous policies that have given us the highest inflation in 40 years, record gas prices, raging crime, and learning loss for an entire generation of kids.”
The RSLC released a video highlighting their mission called “Defend America.” The organization says it will seek to continue to build on major victories in Virginia and New Jersey last November. Republicans claimed the top three statewide offices in Virginia and reclaimed a majority in the House of Delegates, while in New Jersey increased their representation in the state legislature and defeated the state’s Senate president.
States targeted by the RSLC fall into three categories: defending majorities (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin); opportunities to flip chambers (Colorado, Minnesota); and possibilities for gains in Democratic strongholds (Illinois, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington).
The General Assembly contests will take place under remedial maps that were finalized in mid-February. Candidate filing for the seats ended on March 4 and the state’s primary elections will take place on Tuesday, May 17.
