GOP Majority May Be Too Strong for Trump to Break

The Washington Post got a sneak peak at the Almanac of American Politics 2018 and finds that “if you really want to know why the Republican majority in the House has been so strong, the answer lies in these six states: Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania — across the Rust Belt — and Virginia and Florida down South.”

“After the 2008 elections, those six states sent a combined 97 members to the House and Democrats held a 51-to-46 edge over Republicans among the lawmakers representing them. The disastrous 2010 showing for Democrats resulted in a net GOP gain of 21 seats in those states, 67 Republicans to 30 Democrats, and that margin has remained remarkably steady ever since. Today, after decennial reapportionment reduced those combined seats by two, there are now 64 Republicans to 31 Democrats in the House from those six states. It’s a bulwark created partly by Republican control of most of those states during the 2011 redrawing of the congressional districts —  and partly by the House Democrats’ inability to field candidates who appeal voters beyond the inner suburbs.”