There is no question that Republicans have a huge advantage in the House. But there is a big debate about whether it’s because of partisan gerrymandering or because Democrats are gerrymandering themselves into urban, heavily Democratic districts. One reason the debate continues, despite a near consensus among political scientists, is […] Read more »
Legacy of Wisconsin’s polarization: No consensus, little common ground
There are more than a million and a half people in metropolitan Milwaukee, yet few can expect to cast a truly meaningful vote in a congressional election in the fall. They likely won’t cast a meaningful vote in a state Senate election this fall either. Or a state Assembly election. […] Read more »
GOP enjoys advantage in fight for House control
Even if Democrats recruit great candidates, raise gobs of money and run smart campaigns, they face an uphill fight to retake control of the House in this year’s congressional elections, regardless of the political climate in November. The reason? Republican strategists spent years developing a plan to take advantage of […] Read more »
Republicans Lost the Standoff, But They Won’t Lose the House. Unless …
The shutdown is over, but it lasted more than long enough to inflict significant damage to the Republican brand. A plurality of voters blamed the GOP for the shutdown, poll after poll shows the GOP’s favorability rating near record lows. And as a result, a once unthinkable Democratic takeover of […] Read more »
Did gerrymandering make politics more partisan? Ted Cruz argues not
I have written about gerrymandering before, but the issue is back to the fore because numerous commentators have posited a link between gerrymandering and the shutdown. Gerrymandering is now commonly given as the reason why congressional districts appear to be producing more conservative and/or Tea Party-allied Republican representatives. I still […] Read more »
Gerrymandering Didn’t Cause the Shutdown
What if we told you that the gerrymandering of congressional districts has nothing to do with political polarization in Washington? Gerrymandering didn’t have anything to do with the shutdown, or the battles over the debt ceiling, or Obamacare. In fact, the accepted view that politically based redistricting led to our […] Read more »