Cherry Picking The Best News Of The Day

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The wave of voter discontent that put Democrats in charge of the U.S. House of Representatives also hit state legislatures, where the party won control of more chambers than Republicans.

Democrats picked up control of at least nine chambers in Tuesday's election, winning the House and Senate in Iowa and New Hampshire, the House in Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, and Indiana, and the Wisconsin Senate, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

"The Democrats have won pretty much across the board," said Tim Storey, an elections analyst at the nonpartisan group.

He said the outcomes of House races in Maine, Montana, Oregon and Pennsylvania were still up in the air. Republicans, meanwhile, managed to tie the Oklahoma Senate, which had been controlled by Democrats.

Democrats control outright 21 legislatures, and split nine more, thus guaranteeing a hand in governing at least a majority of the states. This is excellent news, particularly in states that Republicans had been targeting for more red paint, like Iowa, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.