The Southern Democrat is rapidly becoming an endangered species.
The GOP now holds all three power bases, including the governor's mansion and both legislative chambers, in 24 states, including 10 of the 11 old Confederate states: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Arkansas is the only state that seceded from the Union that still has Democrats in a position of power.
Democrats hold one-party control in 13 states—mostly in the Northeast and along the West coast. The power Democrats once held in the South has been almost entirely erased, but it wasn't until the last two decades that Republicans established their stronghold south of the Mason-Dixon line.
For instance, Republicans didn't have a majority in Mississippi until 2009, when they gained the state senate, then the house two years later. Democrats held both chambers in Louisiana as late as 2009, and both chambers in Alabama as recently as 2010. Democrats still control both legislative chambers in Arkansas.
The partisan divide that has been so evident on the federal level is now clearly visible on the state level—as the red states get redder, the blue states get bluer, and the numbers of states in which power is shared continues to shrink.
Chuck Todd takes a Deep Dive into the rise of one-party control and what it means for governing with The Hotline’s Reid Wilson.
