Partisan composition of state legislatures, 2013

[ElectionsGuy]

I actually just made an spreadsheet the other day of how many seats each party has in each chamber using Ballotpedia.

[ElectionsGuy]

I actually just made an spreadsheet the other day of how many seats each party has in each chamber using Ballotpedia.

Does that include Nebraska? Because if party affiliation is considered in their nonpartisan legislature, there's 30 Republicans, 18 Democrats, and 1 Independent.

And unfortunately, I'm one of the many states that has a GOP controlled legislature in both houses. :/  Ohio Democrats will never be able to flip the Ohio State Senate, but if we have another 2014 (maybe 2016) Democratic wave like we had in 2008, then it's plausible the Ohio House of Reps. could change hands then, but really a long shot.

No it didn't include Nebraska, I put N/A on Nebraska. But yes you and I are both in states that the GOP gerrymandered not only at the federal level with the House, but at the state level with both chambers. Unfortunately for you, the numbers for the republicans (23-10 and 61-38) are much more solid and secure than the ones in Wisconsin (18-15 and 57-39). Ohio has practically no chance of changing until 2020 redistricting, but Wisconsin's state senate could flip, the assembly on the other hand is likely here to stay.

[ElectionsGuy]

Wisconsin is an incredibly hard state to gerrymander. There is just so much marginal territory it's hard to see either party ever being safely in control with the current alignment.

Yeah, that is true with Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and even Michigan. Of course there are the safe spots (Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee) (Madison, Milwaukee), but most of the rural areas of the state only lean one way or the other. Of course repubicans have benefited from the barely leaning republican northern part of the state. They also can pack Milwaukee blacks really good, as well as take only bits and pieces of Waukesha county and combine them with other less safe parts of the states to ultimately make more republican districts overall (for example, I live in Mukwonago, in Waukesha County, and my House district goes out to a Obama area of Jefferson County). That's pretty much how they've done it. Same story in Michigan with packing of Detroit blacks and making many leaning republican districts.

[ElectionsGuy]

Wisconsin is an incredibly hard state to gerrymander. There is just so much marginal territory it's hard to see either party ever being safely in control with the current alignment.

Yeah, that is true with Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and even Michigan. Of course there are the safe spots (Waukesha, Washington, Ozaukee) (Madison, Milwaukee), but most of the rural areas of the state only lean one way or the other. Of course repubicans have benefited from the barely leaning republican northern part of the state. They also can pack Milwaukee blacks really good, as well as take only bits and pieces of Waukesha county and combine them with other less safe parts of the states to ultimately make more republican districts overall (for example, I live in Mukwonago, in Waukesha County, and my House district goes out to a Obama area of Jefferson County). That's pretty much how they've done it. Same story in Michigan with packing of Detroit blacks and making many leaning republican districts.

Jefferson's nothing, if you really want to make it fun just start throwing Madison suburbs into Waukesha districts and the numbers still work out for the GOP.

But overall, Wisconsin is impressively unpolarized by geography outside of the box you get if you draw a line from Sheboygan to Green Lake County and south to Janesville. Anything outside is politically close to unpredictable.

Well, it is the House, so districts can't be too big. I was just giving you an example. But yes, anything outside Southeastern Wisconsin is particularly swingy and very moderate (% wise).