Here is how gerrymandering works, using Michigan as an example. Remember this when people talk about the Republican momentum. Gerrymandering The 2011 rewrite of state legislative and congressional boundaries paid huge dividends, again, for the folks that wrote the maps. Democrats actually got plenty of votes, but Republicans made sure that most of them had no impact. In the 14 congressional races, Democrats received more votes than Republicans: Democrats: 1,515,716 (49.15%) Republicans: 1,463,854 (47.47%) Democrats got more votes, but Republicans were victorious (again) in 9 of the 14 races. They accomplished that by stuffing as many Democrats into as few districts as possible. The average margin of victory for winning Dems was 86,410; the average GOP win margin was 42,243. (All of these numbers are from the current Secretary of State report and will likely change a little with the official canvass.) In the races for the state House, Democrats got more votes, Republicans INCREASED their margin: Democrats: 1,536,812 (50.98%) Republicans: 1,474,983 (48.93%) The Republican maps turned a 61,829 margin FOR DEMOCRATS into a 63-47 majority for Republicans. The average Republican victory: 6,389 votes. The average Democratic victory: 10,092. In the races for the state Senate, the discrepancy is even more egregious: Republicans received slightly more votes than Democrats, but turned a slim total-vote victory into a super-majority: Democrats: 1,483,927 (49.23%) Republicans: 1,527,343 (50.67%) The Republican maps transforms that slim 43,416 statewide vote margin (1.4%) into a 27-11 advantage (71%) in the state Senate (one GOP victory, a 61-vote win, could be overturned on recount). The average Republican victory: 15,107 votes. The average Democratic victory: 33,133 votes.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:58:30 +0000
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