From TwinCities.com:

With national polls and prognosticators predicting a tidal wave running against congressional Democrats this fall, local Republican leaders say that surge could spill over into state legislative races. If it does, they think they have not only a good chance of winning a majority of state House seats but also an outside shot at taking control of the Senate for the first time in 38 years.

State Rep. Matt Dean of Dellwood, the House Republicans’ chief campaign strategist, said GOP legislative candidates are being buoyed by a wave of voter anxiety about the Democrats who control Washington. “We don’t know if it’s a regular wave, a tidal wave or a tsunami, but it’s coming,” he said last week.

Assistant Senate Minority Leader Amy Koch of Buffalo, who heads the Senate Republican election team, agreed.

“We will pick up seats, no question about that,” she said. “It’s just a question of how many.”

Democratic-Farmer-Labor legislative leaders expect to retain control of the Legislature but acknowledged some concern about a national Republican wave.

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