These elections are critically important. But in the process of focusing on the “big” races, progressives all too often take our eyes off the battles for our state legislatures. We won the presidency, retained the Senate and made solid gains in the House in the last election. Yet Republicans currently hold a lopsided 58 percent of all state legislative chambers in the country.

The only way progressives can overcome this clear Republican advantage is by applying the same shoe leather we’ve used for years to win national races and take these state legislatures back.

That’s why Democracy for America is launching its Purple to Blue project, a national, multi-year effort to win state House and Senate chambers across the country by making so-called “purple” state legislative seats decisively Democratic. And we’re starting right here in Virginia.

Forget about the “Republicans are dead” stuff. If we allow the status quo to continue, the consequences for our country will be dire. And, honestly, the situation in the states right now is deeply troubling already.

Politically, the current state of affairs leaves us with a Republican party that has a deeper bench and huge advantage when fielding candidates for higher office. While some Republican state legislators may seem to have a negligible chance for higher office (e.g. VA Delegate Bob “Children with disabilities are God’s punishments for past abortions” Marshall), there’s little doubt that running and winning an election is the best kind of practice for running and winning elections in the future.

In terms of policy, the consequences for progressives’ failure to focus on state legislative races has been even worse.

If, as progressive Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once noted, states “serve as a laboratory” for democracy, than state legislators are the scientists — so it’d be nice if we elected a few who actually believed in science.

Unfortunately, as we’ve seen since 2010, empowered by a wave of ultra conservative governors, Republicans have used their majorities in state legislatures across the country to play the role of mad scientists rather than gentle tweakers.

In Virginia, we saw it in the controversial fight that Republicans waged last year to require women seeking an abortion to have invasive, medically unnecessary trans-vaginal ultrasounds. In Wisconsin and Ohio, they manifested themselves as attacks on working families and the right to organize. In Florida, they’ve meant the passage of so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws, legislation backed by the NRA and other gun industry lobbyists that gives gun-owners the right to shoot first and ask questions later.

The progressive response to these attacks has largely been reactive. When Gov. Scott Walker and Republican state senators in Wisconsin launched their war on working families in 2011, Democracy for America members, along with a broad labor-progressive coalition, sprang into action and knocked on 247,496 doors, made 485,677 phone calls and recruited more than 4,000 volunteers to help successfully flip the State Senate back to Democratic control.

This response and the subsequent legislative recalls showed that progressives can win when they focus on state legislative races, but now it’s time to go on offense.

We’re launching the Purple to Blue project by focusing on this year’s elections in Virginia’s House of Delegates and, in particular, five key “purple” districts currently represented by Republicans. The first two of the five Purple to Blue candidates we’ll be in endorsing in Virginia this year are local activist and mom Jennifer Boysko in Delegate District 86 and retired Air Force Officer John Bell in Delegate District 87. These are races tailor made for progressives’ unique grassroots approach, happening in districts where you don’t need big media buys to win and knocks on the door from committed volunteers can make the difference.

We’re not the first group to focus on state legislatures, and even victory in all five of our targeted districts won’t flip Virginia’s House of Delegates. However, that’s why our Purple to Blue project is so important: It gives us a chance to figure out what works ahead of the critical state races happening in Michigan, Pennsylvania and elsewhere in 2014. It is also a critical step in preparing for the big fight in 2015 for the Virginia State Senate.

The success of the Purple to Blue project in the Old Dominion would allow progressives to send a clear message across the Potomac to Republicans who think their legislative colleagues in the states have some “great” ideas: Namely, that waging a legislative war on women, working families, and voting is a sure path to defeat at the ballot box — in every state and at every level of office.

Jim Dean is chairman of Democracy for America.