Coral Evans doesnt have the name identification of her partys presidential nominee, Joe Biden , or its candidate in Arizonas U.S. Senate race, Mark Kelly. She doesnt have their money, either. And her chances of victory in November Evans is running in an Arizona state House district where voters supported President Donald Trump four years ago may be slimmer than theirs, too.

But when it comes to beating back Trumpism, the outcome of her race and hundreds like it may be just as important as Bidens or Kellys.

When it comes down to meaningful change and what directly impacts us, that happens at the state level, said Evans, who currently serves as mayor of Flagstaff. Thats your state representatives.

Ending Trumps presidency and winning a majority in the U.S. Senate are the Democratic Party s top priorities this November. But at the end of a decade that saw Democrats lose hundreds of state legislative seats nationwide, the party and a new crop of outside organizations have set their sights on races like Evans in Arizona, where Democrats have a shot to flip both the state House and Senate. Arizona Republicans now hold a two-seat edge in the state House and a three-seat advantage in the state Senate.

There are similar opportunities across the country: Democrats need small gains to win state House majorities in Texas, Iowa, Michigan and Pennsylvania. They need two seats to win the Minnesota state Senate and take total control of the state government. In North Carolina, as in Arizona, they could flip both legislative chambers. A wave election could potentially hand them the majority in the Florida state Senate, while Democrats hope to prevent a GOP supermajority in Wisconsin and break one in Kansas.

State legislative races may not be as sexy as the contests at the top of the ticket, but theyre just as important. In most states, theyll help determine how congressional redistricting unfolds next year, and while progressive bills may stall in a deadlocked U.S. Senate, statehouse Democrats could advance policies to expand voting rights and health care access to millions of Americans.