Swimming against the Tide: Governing from the Superminority

By Elizabeth Rosen

This story is part one of a two-part series exploring what it’s like to govern from the superminority and the supermajority in state legislatures. In this conversation with Rep. Seth Bronko, R-Conn., and Rep. Justis Gibbs, D-Miss., and this conversation with Asm. Ed Ra, R-N.Y., and Del. Kayla Young, D-W.Va., they reflect on the challenges, strategies and silver linings of serving in the superminority.

Being in the political superminority isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s harder to pass bills. Floor speeches feel like walking into the lion’s den. Sometimes, colleagues across the aisle don’t even want to talk to you, much less sign on to your legislation. But according to several members of the Future Caucus network serving in legislatures where their party has only a handful of seats, the superminority comes with unexpected freedoms and levers for change.

“The numbers are the numbers,” said Connecticut state Rep. Seth Bronko, a Republican. “There’s only so much we can do.”

For Bronko and others, being in the superminority means recalibrating what it means to succeed. Passing sweeping partisan bills may be out of reach, but influencing legislation through negotiation is not.

Mississippi state Rep. Justis Gibbs, a Democrat, believes the answer is to focus on what’s achievable: pushing for targeted amendments, removing harmful provisions, and finding opportunities to make inevitable legislation better for their constituents.

“Sometimes in the superminority, you have to understand that you cannot have your way one hundred percent of the time,” said Gibbs. “The question becomes, what do we do?”

He later added, “It’s better to make sure that we’re taking things out of legislation that’s going to help our constituents … than to simply sit on the sidelines in the superminority.”

Future Caucus members consistently return to one theme: relationships matter more than party math.

“If you remember we’re all human beings, it’s easier to leave the policy and the politics as the policy and politics and not something personal,” said New York state Asm. Ed Ra, a Republican.

West Virginia state Del. Kayla Young, a Democrat, agreed. “I think the most important thing is getting to know people on a personal level … and showing that you’re not just there because you need their vote, but because you legitimately care about them.”

Those kinds of relationships can also soften divides in chambers where tensions run high. Ra pointed to offsite trips for new legislators, where members had the chance to spend time together away from the glare of the floor. In his experience, many issues lend themselves to bipartisan work when people can “leave politics in the chamber.”

There’s another unexpected side effect of being in the superminority: independence.

“Being in the superminority kind of frees us up to vote how we feel,” Bronko said. “We’re empowered to vote our conscience because we don’t have the pull of majority leadership — they don’t need our votes. You’ll often see our caucus split on lots of bills right down the middle because we’re voting our conscience.”

While that lack of unity can frustrate party strategists, it gives individual lawmakers more space to authentically represent their districts and reach across the aisle without fear of punishment. Even when their impact on the legislative big picture feels limited, superminority members say the core of their job remains unchanged: serving constituents.

“You can still do so, so much,” Young said. “Whether your name is on a bill or not, it doesn’t matter. You can still make a massive impact for people, and that tangibly matters and changes people’s lives.”

“There really is no greater feeling when you’re in elected office than when you’ve helped a constituent, you’ve helped them solve a problem, whether it’s a big problem or small problem,” Ra agreed. “A lot of times, that makes all these frustrations and the negatives worth it.”

That perspective keeps lawmakers grounded in the face of overwhelming opposition. Most of the time, however, serving in the superminority is just as challenging as it looks.

“When you lose every battle, it can be demoralizing if you want to come in and you want to effect change and the cards are stacked against you,” Bronko said.

But for these lawmakers, the work is about more than wins and losses. It’s about serving their communities, building authentic relationships, and finding creative ways to make a difference. As Young put it, “No matter what party we’re in, we both represent people from all over the place, and that’s a massive privilege, to get to do that. We need people in public service that are willing to do that and willing to step up.”

For legislators in the superminority, that privilege is what makes the challenges worth it — and what keeps them coming back, day after day, to do the work.