At a board meeting, state board member discusses and votes on a matter that impacts a client of his firm. A public employee applies for a job with the company she regulates on behalf of her public agency. Please note that having a conflict of interest is not illegal.
If you want to understand how destructive the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections were to the long-term downballot prospects of the Democratic party, all you need to do is look at this chart via Pew's terrific Fact Tank site. In 2009, Republicans controlled both chambers in just 14 state legislatures. Six years later, they had total control in more than double that number. And that's not even the full, bad story for Democrats. Look at their numbers. In 2009, Democrats had full control in 27 state legislatures; by 2015 that number was down to 11, the lowest ebb for total Democratic control since, at least, 1978.
As of August 2016, there were 7 Democratic and 23 Republican trifectas. The concept of the trifecta is important in state lawmaking because in many states, the governor, senate majority leader, and house majority leader play decisive roles in the legislative process.