He chalked up Republican wins in Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan and Florida to those states having GOP governors who have enacted popular laws and low unemployment rates.

“I think we conditioned people in our respective states that were once and still are battleground states to say, ‘It’s OK to vote Republican,’ because look at what we do,” Walker said.

Tuesday’s results showed how difficult it will be for Democrats to reclaim power before 2020, when the party in power will be able to redraw the state’s legislative district maps.

Republicans now control 64 Assembly seats and at least 20 Senate seats, having picked up an unexpected victory in Stevens Point and coming within a potential recount of knocking off Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling in La Crosse.

“We’ve got a major problem in terms of the white working class and the white middle class,” said Paul Maslin, a Democratic pollster. “For all the talk of the new American coalition, if we don’t win back northern and central and western Wisconsin on economic issues, we’re going to be out in the wilderness for awhile.”

Economic divisions