From National Journal:

Republicans are quick to point out, however, that they have scored even more
pickups if the counting starts from the early months of this midterm cycle. The
GOP picked up nine other Democratic-held state legislative seats from December
2008 through November 2009. Over that period, Democrats captured just three
seats from the GOP. The overall score during this cycle so far is 14 pickups for
Republicans, five for Democrats.

The recent GOP victories came in a diverse group of districts. The party
racked up two wins in the suburbs of New York City: Assembly District 3 in
Suffolk County on Long Island, and Assembly District 89 in Westchester County.
The three other victories came in mostly rural state House seats in Alabama,
Kentucky, and New Hampshire.

“I see an energized Republican base that mirrors what we see in the national
polls,” said former Rep. Tom Reynolds, the vice chairman of the Republican State
Leadership Committee, which helps to elect GOP candidates to state legislative
and executive branch posts.

In assessing the results of the special elections with an eye toward
November’s congressional races, Reynolds said that he is encouraged by the
success that GOP state legislative candidates have had in winning over
independent voters. That was particularly true in Westchester County, where
Republican Bob Castelli upset Democrat Peter Harckham in a district where
Democrats have a sizable advantage in party registration.

Reynolds acknowledged that Republican fortunes in the Empire State’s special
elections in February benefited from voters’ widespread antipathy toward
Democratic Gov. David Paterson, but he added, “I also saw independent voters
abandon the Democrats, and two years before, they were voting overwhelmingly
Democratic.”

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