Republicans are the dominant party in the US
- The GOP holds a majority of state legislatures, governorships, lieutenant governorships, secretaries of state and half of the nation’s attorneys general.
Divided government still rules in the nation’s capital after the 2012 vote, but unity is increasingly the name of the game in Annapolis, Topeka, Concord, Little Rock and other capital cities.
The Washington Times reports that in a little-noticed footnote to the elections, votes to fill legislative seats produced the highest number of states with one-party rule in 60 years. Democrats or Republicans now have sole control of the governorship and both legislative chambers in 37 state capitals.
The GOP's General Eisenhower |
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks party representation in the country’s 50 state governments, Democrats now control all three bases of power — the governorship and both houses of the state legislature — in 14 states and Republicans in 23, with only 12 states sharing power. Nebraska’s unicameral legislature is considered nonpartisan.
Regional power bases also are emerging, with Democrats increasingly dominating state governments in New England.
Conversely, the GOP for the first time since 1872 now will control the Arkansas House and Senate. Just 20 years ago, Republicans didn’t have a majority in a single legislative house in the states of the old Confederacy; now they will control all 11.
The number of states with divided government is down from 31 just 16 years ago to 12 today, prompting speculation about the country’s evolving partisan geography.
Colonel Roosevelt |
Democrats reclaimed majorities they had lost in 2010 in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and the Minnesota House and Senate.
They also took control of the Colorado House, the Oregon House, the Maine House and Senate and the New York Senate, for a total of eight pickups.
In addition to the Arkansas sweep, Republicans could point to only one other pickup, but it was a satisfying one: the Wisconsin state Senate, where Democrats held a brief majority as a result of a number of recall elections this summer.
GOP officials said the final tally was not as bad as it could have been, considering the defeat of Mitt Romney and the party’s weak showing in U.S. Senate races.
(Washington Times)
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