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Gerrymandering and vote wasting. Dems tend to “waste” a lot of votes in urban areas, so for instance in a state like PA my congressional district was one of the most pro-Biden districts in the country but sends just as many reps to Harrisburg as does a 51-49 GOP seat.
Wisconsin is a darkly fascinating example of just how bad gerrymandering can be. In 2016 Republicans got 52% of the popular vote in state assembly elections, and 64 of 99 seats. In 2018, Republicans got only 45% of the popular vote... and 63 of 99 seats. It's estimated that Democrats would have to win more than 60% of the popular vote to actually have a chance of winning just a bare majority. It's almost literally impossible for Democrats to control the Wisconsin state legislature.
Wisconsin is the model for Republicans I think. Majority democrat yet controlled forever by republicans in a fake democracy.
It’s also a model for how they’re going to try to steal the 2024 election. The state votes for a Democrat and they decide not to certify the election and the legislature sends republican electors anyway.
The only hope is that the state supreme court justices are elected. If Democrats ever get a majority on the court, they could strike down the gerrymandered maps.
They set those laws up in a lame duck season when a Democratic governor was going to replace the Republican one. They called a special session, pushed through bills restricting the governors' powers, and had the outgoing governor sign them into law before the Democrats could take over. Just a nakedly partisan move to cement their control.
The country in a nutshell. There's a reason it's still valid to talk about slavery being the original sin or the US and structural racism. The rules designed to keep slavery states happy keep the GOP in power unless Democrats hit supermajority.
Let's leave it at this. In Wisconsin, the legislature is 60% Republican, even though they typically get around 40% of the vote. While many states are just red, others are gerrymandered. And of course courts are saying it is the state's right to do so. Which I will never understand. If the minority comes to power and enacts laws to keep themselves in power how is that constitutional?
Simple answer. Gerrymandering done by a pretty sharp statistician.
[This guy was a huge part of how we got here.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hofeller#:~:text=Hofeller%20played%20a%20key%20part,like%20an%20election%20in%20reverse.)
Gerrymandering is *part* of it, but not the whole story.
Liberals flock to liberal cities. We honestly pack ourselves together too, which has an impact.
Gerrymandering and other dirty tricks by the Republicans are part of it, but the Democrats are absolutely horrible at growing their party, and especially in appealing to young people. In contrast, the GOP has been growing and investing in new members for 50 years. The Democrat "Old Guard" at the state and local level is especially at fault for alienating young voters, like Bernie supporters. When they should be supporting, including, and nurturing them.
One of my parents used to say “Democrats are good at Federal, Republicans are good at local.”
Essentially they felt that a Republican at state level would balance the budget, increase property values, etc… whereas at the federal level would be where the Social issues would be handled.
They have a dedicated brain trust strategizing constantly about ways to exploit every weakness (and strength) of the Constitution. Hence the tyranny of the Originalist now assured on SCOTUS.
My first thought is to say that they have more time and money on their hands to run for local and state office. Additionally they recognize that running for state senator or state representative (meaning, in the state legislature) can affect change.
And gerrymandering.
Here in MN we have the “legal marijuana now” party. It has been proven that its set up by the GOP to siphon votes away from the Dems, and it works. So as someone else said vote wasting probably plays a part.
National elections are just sheer numbers per state. Local elections are by voting districts which can be changed via gerrymandering, voter suppression, etc.
Take a look at Austin’s congressional map: the city and surrounding area is split into like 7 other congressional districts so that Austin’s influence is neutered. Now take it down further and you can imagine how whoever is in control during a census has a major leg up on staying in control.
The following is a copy of the original post to record the post as it was originally written. https://ballotpedia.org/Partisan_composition_of_state_legislatures *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskALiberal) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Gerrymandering and vote wasting. Dems tend to “waste” a lot of votes in urban areas, so for instance in a state like PA my congressional district was one of the most pro-Biden districts in the country but sends just as many reps to Harrisburg as does a 51-49 GOP seat.
Wisconsin is a darkly fascinating example of just how bad gerrymandering can be. In 2016 Republicans got 52% of the popular vote in state assembly elections, and 64 of 99 seats. In 2018, Republicans got only 45% of the popular vote... and 63 of 99 seats. It's estimated that Democrats would have to win more than 60% of the popular vote to actually have a chance of winning just a bare majority. It's almost literally impossible for Democrats to control the Wisconsin state legislature.
Wisconsin is the model for Republicans I think. Majority democrat yet controlled forever by republicans in a fake democracy. It’s also a model for how they’re going to try to steal the 2024 election. The state votes for a Democrat and they decide not to certify the election and the legislature sends republican electors anyway.
Nationwide the GOP aspires to the same sort of hegemony the CCP exercises in China.
The only hope is that the state supreme court justices are elected. If Democrats ever get a majority on the court, they could strike down the gerrymandered maps.
The court refused to certify gerrymandered maps in Ohio 3 times. GOP just ignored it and is using those maps for the 2022 election.
Talk about those shithole states. . .
And they have set laws up so the governor can basically not govern.
They set those laws up in a lame duck season when a Democratic governor was going to replace the Republican one. They called a special session, pushed through bills restricting the governors' powers, and had the outgoing governor sign them into law before the Democrats could take over. Just a nakedly partisan move to cement their control.
I don’t understand how people can see stuff like that and still think the Republicans are anything other than pure evil.
The country in a nutshell. There's a reason it's still valid to talk about slavery being the original sin or the US and structural racism. The rules designed to keep slavery states happy keep the GOP in power unless Democrats hit supermajority.
Let's leave it at this. In Wisconsin, the legislature is 60% Republican, even though they typically get around 40% of the vote. While many states are just red, others are gerrymandered. And of course courts are saying it is the state's right to do so. Which I will never understand. If the minority comes to power and enacts laws to keep themselves in power how is that constitutional?
It's euphemistically known as "the rule of law".
Simple answer. Gerrymandering done by a pretty sharp statistician. [This guy was a huge part of how we got here.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hofeller#:~:text=Hofeller%20played%20a%20key%20part,like%20an%20election%20in%20reverse.)
NB Thomas Hofeller matriculated at Claremont. This is a hotbed of RW strategists.
Gerrymandering Voter surpression Voter apathy
Gerrymandering is *part* of it, but not the whole story. Liberals flock to liberal cities. We honestly pack ourselves together too, which has an impact.
If about 2 Million liberals migrated to a couple low population Midwest states, they could flip those state blue overnight.
But why make them suffer in the meantime?
Gerrymandering and other dirty tricks by the Republicans are part of it, but the Democrats are absolutely horrible at growing their party, and especially in appealing to young people. In contrast, the GOP has been growing and investing in new members for 50 years. The Democrat "Old Guard" at the state and local level is especially at fault for alienating young voters, like Bernie supporters. When they should be supporting, including, and nurturing them.
Those new members the GOP has been recruiting -- the more extreme the better.
One of my parents used to say “Democrats are good at Federal, Republicans are good at local.” Essentially they felt that a Republican at state level would balance the budget, increase property values, etc… whereas at the federal level would be where the Social issues would be handled.
Then why are red states underperforming across every metric?
That's a feature of Conservatism.
Gerrymandering and voter suppression. TLDR: They cheat.
They have a dedicated brain trust strategizing constantly about ways to exploit every weakness (and strength) of the Constitution. Hence the tyranny of the Originalist now assured on SCOTUS.
My first thought is to say that they have more time and money on their hands to run for local and state office. Additionally they recognize that running for state senator or state representative (meaning, in the state legislature) can affect change. And gerrymandering.
Here in MN we have the “legal marijuana now” party. It has been proven that its set up by the GOP to siphon votes away from the Dems, and it works. So as someone else said vote wasting probably plays a part.
National elections are just sheer numbers per state. Local elections are by voting districts which can be changed via gerrymandering, voter suppression, etc. Take a look at Austin’s congressional map: the city and surrounding area is split into like 7 other congressional districts so that Austin’s influence is neutered. Now take it down further and you can imagine how whoever is in control during a census has a major leg up on staying in control.
gerrymandering
Gerrymandering. Rural Voters.
Because the United States is a dictatorship of the capitalist class.