Three states show how abortion, schools and taxes are at stake in legislature races

Elections for state legislatures don’t get the attention that races for president or Congress do but they often have a big impact on our lives. Congress is divided and gridlocked. In contrast, nearly all state legislatures have both chambers run by one party or another. That makes it easy to pass laws.

And they’ve been passing a lot. More than 20 states have imposed new limits on abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the federal right to abortion in 2022. In education, state lawmakers create voucher programs and determine public school funding. Gun laws, taxes, criminal sentences, access to Medicaid and food stamps are just a few other issues decided by state legislatures.

Redistricting and polarization have increased the political tilt of many legislatures — even where the state might be more balanced overall.

This year, several legislatures could see power shift if just a few seats flip in the election — maybe just a matter of hundreds of votes in some districts. Here are three states, Kansas, Minnesota and Arizona, that illustrate the stakes around the country.

In Kansas, the GOP 'supermajority' could fall, giving the Democratic governor a stronger veto

TOPEKA, Kansas — Kansas is one of several states where the Legislature sometimes tilts more conservative than the state’s voters overall. While it votes Republican for president, it has elected a Democrat for governor twice in a row and voted with 59% to protect abortion rights.

But Republicans hold 29 of the 40 seats in the Senate and 85 of the 125 seats in the House. That gives them the two-thirds “supermajority” to pass bills and override vetoes by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

They’ve overridden Kelly’s vetoes 15 times in the last two years. They used