GOP gerrymandering helped Republicans hold 16 House seats in 2018 midterms

[babylonsister]

GOP gerrymandering helped Republicans hold 16 House seats in 2018 midterms
Democrats would have picked up 16 additional seats in 2018 if not for Republican gerrymandering, according to study
Matthew Rozsa
March 21, 2019 7:01PM (UTC)


A new study reveals that, although Democrats were able to regain control of the House of Representatives for the first time in eight years during the 2018 midterm elections, their gains were offset by the effects of Republican gerrymandering over the past decade.

Democrats would have picked up roughly 16 additional seats from their actual total in 2018 if it had not been for partisan gerrymandering around the country, according to a new study by the Associated Press. The analysis also found that in state legislative elections, Republican redistricting may have helped them hold on to at least seven chambers that otherwise would have gone to the Democrats.

"The AP examined all U.S. House races and about 4,900 state House and Assembly seats up for election last year using a statistical method of calculating partisan advantage that is designed to flag cases of potential political gerrymandering," the Associated Press reported. "A similar analysis also showed a GOP advantage in the 2016 elections."

The report added, "The AP used the so-called “efficiency gap” test in part because it was one of the analytical tools cited in a Wisconsin gerrymandering case that went before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2017 and is part of a North Carolina case scheduled to be argued on Tuesday before the court. In that case, justices will decide whether to uphold a lower court ruling that struck down North Carolina’s congressional districts as an unconstitutional political gerrymander favoring Republicans."

more...

https://www.salon.com/2019/03/21/gop-gerrymandering-helped-republicans-hold-18-house-seats-in-2018-midterms/?fbclid=IwAR0FQPaCAIn9SFHDF3ZZg0RLe2Uvfc0N9i5AYoeba0Lsa2aWQ12EDOmYfkA

[Botany]

1. Example Ohio's 12th District and Rep. Troy Balderson

The republicans know and have known for years that the demographics and the issues
doom them in the long run so that is why they have to pack the courts, control the media,
rig the elections, and gerrymander the districts.

S. Carolina should almost be a go to blue state because it is 35% African American and
11% Hispanic which means if just 5 or 6% of the white votes goes for D then the state
flips.

[NewJeffCT]

2. 251 seats sounds a lot nicer than 235

not counting the 3 vacant seats.

235-197 vs

251-181