Thursday, November 15, 2012

How Significant Was GOP Gerrymandering in Congressional Seats?

The answer, as shown by the chart above, was that GOP retention of House seats was significantly enhanced through gerrymandering.  As debate over budget issues progress, it is important that Americans realize that the GOP held the house not because of significant support of GOP ideas or policies but solely because of gerrymandering - or cheating in my view.  A case in point is Virginia where the popular vote went slightly in favor of Democrats yet the GOP holds nearly 75% of the seats.  The GOP is morally and ethically bankrupt at this point and they need to be continually exposed.  Here are highlights from Andrew Sullivan's blog: 

After Republicans swept into power in state legislatures in 2010, the GOP gerrymandered key states, redrawing House district boundaries to favor Republicans. In Pennsylvania, Democratic candidates received half of the votes in House contests, but Republicans will claim about three quarters of the congressional seats. The same is true in North Carolina. More than half the voters in that state voted for Democratic representation, yet Republicans will fill about 70 percent of the seats. Democrats drew more votes in Michigan than Republicans, but they'll take only 5 out of the state's 14 congressional seats.


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