America’s Elections Are Getting Much Closer

Aaron Blake: “One of the undersold trends in American politics is just how narrowly elections are suddenly being decided. After a series of mostly wave elections from 2006 to 2014, three of the past four elections have been decided by exceedingly fine margins.”

“Shifts of less than one percentage point across the board could have flipped both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. The current and next Congresses account for two of the five most closely divided Houses in the past century, with either side winning just a nine-seat majority. And the Senate has moved from a 50-50 Senate controlled by Democrats to a 51-49 Senate controlled by Democrats.”