Elise Cooper recently wrote an article for American Thinker that called attention to a very important race that, because it is for a secondary statewide office – California secretary of state – tends to fall under the radar screen of political punditry.  Elise’s interview with the Republican candidate, Pete Peterson, should be considered by all AT readers.

 There is an entire political battlefield in these secondary statewide elective offices that we all ought to care about.  The categories of offices vary by state.  Although every state has an elected governor, some states have a plethora of other offices, while others have only a few.  In 2014, there will be 161 of these lesser statewide elective offices (excluding members of commissions and board).  One hundred and six of those offices are currently held by Republicans.

Some of these have obvious importance.  The lieutenant governor is often on a stepping stone to the governorship, and the state attorney general can fight to support conservative policies or attack leftist schemes, like Obamacare, forcing leftists to fight battles they often otherwise win by default. 

Other offices, like the secretary of state, as conservatives learned the hard way from George Soros’s infamous “Secretary of State Project,” can be used to help Democrats cheat their way to electoral victories.  The state auditor can help investigate and expose bad government and political corruption.  Superintendent of public instruction, if occupied by a Republican willing to lock horns with the teachers' unions, can help clean up the cesspool of public education. 

When Republicans begin to really control state governments in those states of “Flyover Country” that have been Democrat historically, then it makes it easier to win those states in presidential elections or Senate elections.  This is already occurring in state legislatures.  In purple states like Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Nevada, and in red states that have historically been Democrat at the state level like Arkansas and Louisiana, Republicans are gaining the upper hand in these often overlooked state offices.

Republicans hold three of the four sub-governor statewide elective offices in Colorado, two of the six in New Mexico, two of the six in Iowa, three of the four in Wisconsin, all five in Ohio, and two of the five in Nevada.  In historically solidly Democratic Arkansas, three of the six sub-governor statewide elective offices were won in 2010 by Republicans, eight of the nine in South Carolina, and all seven in Georgia.

Republicans did very well in sub-governor statewide elective office races in 2010.  The very fact that most of these races are low-profile compared to the much more noticed Senate and gubernatorial races means that a general Republican tide could lift many candidates to victory – and the Democratic Party, already weakening badly in state governments, could droop much more. 

States that we currently think of was blue – Wisconsin is a good example – could turn purple in presidential elections if Republicans not only hold the governor and legislature, but also win the current close Wisconsin attorney general race, which is being watched by both parties.  New Mexico is a blue state, but Susana Martinez is cruising to re-election, and Republicans appear likely to hold the secretary of state.  Winning the attorney general and state auditor races, occupied by Democrats seeking other offices, would make New Mexico more a purple than a blue state.  Three of the five statewide officers in Colorado are already Republicans; if Republicans hold those offices and win the governorship, Colorado could actually flip from blue to red, especially if the legislature becomes Republican.  Secondary races in Iowa and Nevada could also make these purple states redder in future presidential and senatorial elections.

There will be no tallies by network pundits of how the political parties did across America in such mundane races as New Mexico attorney general or Nevada secretary of state or Arkansas state treasurer.  But winning a large majority of these races, which Republicans could easily do, lays the foundation for the series of electoral triumphs that, alone, can finally achieve the broad and deep conservative revolution our nation desperately needs.