State Senator Bill Dix, the new Republican majority leader, said his party had campaigned on such changes
— which would cut deeply into unions’ negotiating power — and intended to make good on its commitments.
In addition to Kentucky, Missouri and New Hampshire became one-party states with the election of Republican governors,
and Republicans in Iowa snatched away the State Senate, where Democrats had held their last grip on power.
“But we can certainly move forward with a conservative agenda that’s a reasonable conservative agenda.”
Republicans will control the governor’s office and both chambers of the state
legislature in four more states — Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and New Hampshire.
When Republicans in Kentucky seized total control of the state government last year, Damon Thayer, the majority leader in the State Senate, began
asking around for advice from counterparts in other capitals where the party already dominated both the legislative and executive branches.
And in New Hampshire, State Senator Jeb Bradley, the Republican majority leader, said so-called right-to-work legislation was a top priority.
One answer impressed him, Mr. Thayer said, from a senior Republican lawmaker in Wisconsin: “Move quickly.”
Kentucky Republicans have done just that, swiftly passing laws to roll back the powers of labor unions and restrict access to abortion.