"The people have spoken:" How will Republican stronghold in state affect Milwaukee?

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Republicans are maintaining control of the state government in Madison. Lawmakers look set to increase their majorities in both the Assembly and Senate following Tuesday's election. So what could that mean for Milwaukee -- as both a city and county?

"The people have spoken. And right now, we're going to be certainly reaching out to the members of the Republican party and the governor make sure that they recognize, you know, if the city is to grow, the state will grow," said Michael Murphy, Common Council President.

Murphy sees several areas where the city and state can collaborate; to bolster the community he calls the state's "economic engine."

"Clearly, the governor will have a number of issues to work on as it relates to the downtown entertainment district -- whether that includes a new arena or not and how the state supports those efforts. So there's a lot of opportunities, I think, where there can be partnerships. There has to be willingness to work with both parties," said Murphy.

Months of mudslinging can sometimes make it seem like the parties are actually at war with each other. Now that the election is over, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele hopes cooler heads will prevail.

"It's sometimes just fascinating to me just how much anger can get ginned up in a campaign cycle. And I understand there's a lot of people that think that's the way to motivate turnout. It's unfortunate and I don't think it serves the public well," said Abele.

Even though Abele backed Mary Burke, he expects he'll be able to work with Republicans to improve the county.

"In the last four years, there has been a, you know, a Republican majority in the Senate and the Assembly and we have been able to get support for a lot of things," said Abele.

Republicans are expected to have a 19-14 majority in the State Senate -- and could lead the Assembly 63-36. Both are increases over this last session.