State
and local races show some significant net gains by the Republican Party,
notwithstanding the occasional Democratic Party pickup. There were 12 governors
races. 8 left the incumbent or the incumbent's party in power. These states
included: Delaware, Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Washington,
and West Virginia. The Republicans picked up Missouri, a very significant bellweather [spelling corrected!] state, and also Vermont and New Hampshire, illustrating that the
Republican Party continues to enjoy some significant support in New England.
North Carolina is yet to be decided. If the Democrat emerges the victor, it will
be a significant Democratic Party pickup in the South.
As
to state houses, the National Conference of State Legislatures reports:
Three
chambers switched from Democratic to Republican control: Kentucky House, Iowa
Senate, and Minnesota Senate.
Four
chambers switched from Republican to Democratic control: New Mexico House, Nevada
Assembly, Nevada Senate, and Washington Senate (albeit, Republicans, however,
will have functional control as one Democrat will caucus with the Republicans).
The Connecticut
Senate, which had been under Democratic Party control, will be tied. And the NY Senate,
which also had been under Democratic Party control, is yet to be decided, as one seat
remains contested.
See http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/2016-pre-and-post-election-state-legislative-control.aspx.
In total, the Republicans had some net gains, but not dramatic gains.
In terms
of state legislative seats, after the 2014 election the Ds held 3,172 seats, and
the Rs held 4,124 seats: an R advantage of 952 seats. We do not yet know if the
Rs expanded on their 952 seat lead, or if it contracted. That will be clarified
later today, by Monday, or over the course of the next few business days.
In
2016, there were 154 referenda** at the state level. Several dealt with the death
penalty. For example, California voters rejected a proposal to abolish the
death penalty, and in a separate vote appear to have passed a proposal to speed
up the pace of executions, but the results are not yet official. Nebraska
voters restored the death penalty, after the legislature had passed a bill to
end the procedure. And Oklahoma voters passed an amendment to the state
constitution stating that the procedure was not “cruel and unusual punishment.”
The latter passed 2-to-1. See http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/ballot-measures-database.aspx.
Seth
**I usually use Atlantic Archipelago spelling and usage. In Ireland, the plural for “referendum” is “referendums.” Perhaps in the future I could write this way, but today, I cannot bring myself to do it.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SethBTillman ( @SethBTillman )
My prior post: Seth Barrett Tillman, The Supreme
Court Temptation, The New Reform Club (Nov. 9, 2016, 8:59 AM). [Here]
bellwether: the reference is to sheep not rain and sun
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