{"id":13676,"date":"2015-03-02T12:42:38","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T17:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/ahead-of-redistricting-democrats-seek-to-reverse-statehouse-declines\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:20:14","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:20:14","slug":"ahead-of-redistricting-democrats-seek-to-reverse-statehouse-declines","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/03\/02\/ahead-of-redistricting-democrats-seek-to-reverse-statehouse-declines\/","title":{"rendered":"Ahead of redistricting, Democrats seek to reverse statehouse declines"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?attachment_id=267674\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-267670\"><img data-dominant-color=\"d0c7c8\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #d0c7c8;\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-25236 not-transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2015\/03\/FT_15.03.02_legislatures-1.png\" alt=\"Partisan Composition of State Legislatures\" ><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Late last month, a Democratic National Committee &#8220;victory task force&#8221; released its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scribd.com\/doc\/256467123\/Democratic-Victory-Task-Force-Preliminary-Findings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">preliminary report<\/a> on what the party needs to do to avoid a repeat of the pasting it received in November&#8217;s midterms. One of its main recommendations: The party needs to take control of more state legislatures in time for the redistricting that will follow the 2020 census.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though they tend not to get much attention from Beltway insiders, state legislatures are key players in redrawing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.census.gov\/rdo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">congressional-district boundaries<\/a>. In most\u00a0states, it&#8217;s\u00a0the state legislature that takes the lead role in drawing new district maps, according to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/research\/redistricting.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">National Conference of State Legislatures<\/a>.\u00a0(Commissions do this job in 13 states and have advisory or backup roles in seven others, although the Supreme Court is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2015\/03\/02\/389573352\/supreme-court-to-weigh-power-of-redistricting-commissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">currently weighing<\/a> the legality of the commissions\u2019 task.) Given the inherently political nature of redistricting, which party controls the legislature can be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/wonkblog\/wp\/2014\/05\/15\/americas-most-gerrymandered-congressional-districts\/\">crucial to a state&#8217;s\u00a0final maps<\/a> and thus, control\u00a0of Congress.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><!--more--><\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/03\/02\/ahead-of-redistricting-democrats-seek-to-reverse-statehouse-declines\/ft_15-03-02_legislators\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-267676\"><img data-dominant-color=\"efeeee\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #efeeee;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"200\" height=\"392\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/03\/FT_15.03.02_legislators.png?resize=200,392 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-25245 not-transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/03\/FT_15.03.02_legislators.png\" alt=\"Democrats Have Lost 900 Seats Since 2009\" ><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Democrats have &#8220;suffered devastating losses at all levels of government&#8221; over the past several election cycles, the DNC report noted. According to our analysis of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/research\/about-state-legislatures\/partisan-composition.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NCSL data<\/a>, the Democratic Party today has 919 fewer legislative seats than it did in 2009. Democrats control both legislative chambers in just 11 states, down from 34 states in 1982 and 27 as recently as 2010, though that number had fluctuated in the years in between. Meanwhile, Republicans have gained a total of 888\u00a0legislative seats since\u00a02009, and control both chambers in a record-high 30 states.\u00a0In eight other states,\u00a0each party controls one\u00a0chamber.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(Our analysis excludes Nebraska&#8217;s unicameral legislature, which is officially nonpartisan. However, lawmakers&#8217; affiliations are widely known and reported on in that state, and Republicans appear to have a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.knopnews2.com\/home\/headlines\/Things-to-Know-About-the-2015-Nebraska-Legislative-Session-287698431.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">35-to-13 advantage<\/a>, with one independent.)<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Republicans&#8217; big 2010 gains\u00a0weren&#8217;t just in Congress: They picked up nearly 700 legislative seats and won full control of 25 state legislatures (up from 14), putting them in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/emails-suggest-ohios-new-republican-friendly-maps-save-the-gop-millions-on-\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">strong position<\/a> to influence post-census\u00a0redistricting. Although they weren&#8217;t able to retake the White House in 2012, the party extended and solidified its congressional and legislative gains in the 2014 midterm elections. That &#8220;long game,&#8221; the DNC report says, is what Democrats need to emulate if they hope to eventually retake the House of Representatives. (Already, Democrats have sought to push the process in their favor where they could, such as in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/in-california-democrats-redistricting-strategy-paid-off\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;<span class=\"a\">The current GOP stranglehold on state houses, governorships and congression<span class=\"l6\">al seats is a by-product of\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span class=\"a\">more than 30 years of organizing, fostering talent and signi\ufb01cant \ufb01nancial investments at the state and\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"a\">local level,&#8221; the report says. &#8220;The DNC must develop \u2013 and accelerate \u2013 programs at the state and local level to ensure that the\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"a\">next redistricting and reapportionmen<span class=\"l6\">t projects encourage Democratic growth.<\/span><\/span><span class=\"a\">&#8220;<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The national Democratic Party wants to regain some of the 900-plus state legislative seats Democrats have lost since 2009.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[],"bylines":[842],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[521,525,529,526,527,528,522,520,523,517,518,519],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-13676","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","bylines-drew-desilver","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-data-labs","research-teams-global","research-teams-global-migration-and-demography","research-teams-internet","research-teams-journalism","research-teams-methods","research-teams-pew-research-center","research-teams-politics","research-teams-race-and-ethnicity","research-teams-religion","research-teams-science","research-teams-social-trends"],"label":"Short 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