Another Way Clinton Could Make History

Hillary Clinton “could become the first Democratic president in the party’s nearly two century-long history* to never control the House of Representatives while she’s in office,” Kyle Kondik writes.

“Let’s say Democrats net 19 seats in 2016 and 19 more in 2020, which given the current maps and overall political outlook in the House would be two very successful elections. That’s a 38-seat net gain, or eight more than they need to win the House. However, there’s a midterm to be held in between those elections, and Democrats could only afford to lose eight seats, no more, to control the House in 2021 under this scenario. In only nine of the last 39 midterms has the president’s party lost eight or fewer seats. Again, one can concoct scenarios whereby a President Hillary Clinton controls the House during her term. They are just ones that take a tremendous leap of faith to predict.”