Republicans Have Gained Stength in State Legislatures and Governorships

Republicans in the United States have not won a presidential election since 2004, but they are much stronger on the state government level than the Democratic Party.

The Republican Party has sharply increased its control of state legislatures and governorships during the presidency of Barack Obama. Obama, a Democrat, will leave office in January 2017 after serving eight years as president.

Democrats control 919 fewer seats in state legislatures than they did in 2009 -- when Obama first took office. That information comes from the Pew Research Center and the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Republicans control 67 of 98 state house and senate chambers. That is more than at any time in the history of the Republican Party. Democrats control 31.

Fifty-five percent of the country’s more than 1,900 state senators are Republican. Fifty-six percent of the more than 5,350 state representatives are Republican.

There are about 4,040 Republican state legislators and about 3,100 Democratic legislators nationwide. That is the largest number of Republican state lawmakers since 1920.

The Republican Party has controlled a majority of the state legislatures since the 2010 elections, when the Democrats lost control of 24 legislatures.

This year, the U.S. elections take place on November 8th. Voters will fill a total of 5,917 legislative seats in 44 states. That is more than 80 percent of all state legislative seats nationwide.

Currently, Republicans control both legislative chambers in 30 states, the highest number since 1978. Democrats control 12, the lowest number since 1978.

Republicans control the state house, state senate and governor’s office in 23 states. Democrats have that level of control in just seven states. There are 31 Republican governors, 18 Democrats and one Independent. The mayor of Washington, DC is a Democrat.

Political experts say the increase in Republican control of state governments has happened for many reasons.

One reason is that the Republicans have outspent and outworked Democrats at the local and state levels. Another is that white voters have been leaving the Democratic Party -- especially in the “Deep South.” That is an area that includes Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. It also includes parts of five other states -- Florida, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas.

In 1964, Democrats held or controlled almost all of the political offices in the Deep South. That is the year President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. The measure gave legal protection to minorities.

Some observers believe the Civil Rights Act is the main reason many whites have left the Democratic Party.

Tim Storey is an expert on the U.S. elections at the National Conference of State Legislatures. He notes that Republicans have been slowly gaining control of the South for the past 25 years.

“By 2008, Republicans had gained 46 percent of all seats in Southern legislatures, and today they hold 63 percent of the seats” and every governorship, he added.

Republicans control both of the legislative chambers of every Southern state except for Kentucky, which has a small Democratic majority. Every U.S. Senator in the Deep South is a Republican and a large majority of House members from the Deep South are Republicans. There are no white Democrats serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from the South.

In a report, the Democratic National Committee noted the increase in the Republican Party’s control of state governments. It said the party worked for more than 30 years “organizing, fostering talent and [making] significant financial investments at the state and local level.”

Washington Post reporter Chris Cillizza called the report “largely useless” because it did not have specific plans to take back control of state legislatures and governorships from Republicans.

“The reality -- and this is one of the least-appreciated stories in politics these days -- is that Democrats have been badly beaten by Republicans at the state and legislative level over the past decade,” he wrote.

I’m Christopher Jones-Cruise.

VOA’s Christopher Jones-Cruise reported this story and wrote it in Special English. George Grow was the editor.

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