Can Dems flip state legislatures?
Today, Explained

Can Dems flip state legislatures?

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 10, 202634 min
  • Politics

Most of the focus in this year’s midterms is naturally on Congress. But the battle to control state legislatures matters just as much, if not more. This show was edited by Kasia Broussalian, fact checked by Esther Gim, mixed by Shannon Mahoney, video edited by Christopher Snyder, and hosted by Astead Herndon. Photo caption: Francesca Hong during a primary election night watch party in Madison, Wisconsin. Photo by Talia Sprague/Bloomberg via Getty Images You can also watch this episode on youtube.com/vox. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vo...

Play episode

Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.

Try it: tap any word

Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.

Sentence 1 of 12 · 0:00

.

But what does that actually mean?

Hear this sentence

Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.

Do you know these words?

8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.

  • B20:00
  • B27:17
  • B29:21
  • B213:45
  • C120:24
  • C126:05
  • B229:16
  • C131:35

Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.

Is this episode right for you?

B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 33%A2 32%B1 19%B2 13%C1 4%
  • 83% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 167 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
  • 155 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

Everyone's talking about the prospect of a democratic wave in the midterm elections. But what does that actually mean? Now, of course, most of the focus is on Congress. But here's something that matters just as much.

0:14

The battle to control state legislatures. Because for issues like health care, abortion rights, even when it comes to certifying the presidential election in 2028, state legislatures matter just as much, if not more, than Congress. Let's take a look at the maps.

0:31

Right now, the GOP has a trifecta in 23 states, which means they control the governor's seat plus the statehouse and the state senate. For Democrats, it's 16 states, meaning most Americans live in a state that's under full Republican control.

That was the opening. The rest of the episode (33 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.

Continue in the player

Automatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy