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GOP moving on state plan to help GOP win White House
Republicans now have full control of 24 states, and they've got some ideas for what to do with that power. For instance, rather than do the work of crafting
Click for more charts about gerrymandering.
By
Laura Conaway
Republicans now have full control of 24 states, and they’ve got some ideas for what to do with that power. For instance, rather than do the work of crafting policies that voters like, they’re hoping to rewrite the rules for how states back a president. From the National Journal:
“If you did the calculation, you’d see a massive shift of electoral votes in states that are blue and fully [in] red control,” said one senior Republican taking an active role in pushing the proposal. “There’s no kind of autopsy and outreach that can grab us those electoral votes that quickly.”
The proposals, the senior GOP official said, are likely to come up in each state’s legislative session in 2013. Bills have been drafted, and legislators are talking to party bosses to craft strategy. Saul Anuzis, the former chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, has briefed Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus and Chief of Staff Jeff Larson on his state’s proposal. The proposal “is not being met with the ‘We can’t do that’ answer. It’s being met with ‘I’ve already got a bill started,’ ” the official said.
States are allowed to decide for themselves how they allot their votes in the Electoral College. In addition to Michigan, the National Journal cites the GOP as especially determined to act in Florida, Ohio and Virginia. Along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, those states all voted for President Obama but have Republican majorities at the local level. As you can see in the charts here and from Mother Jones, Republicans have drawn congressional and state legislative districts so that it takes more votes to elect a Democrat than it does to elect a Republican. H/t Matt Yglesias. (On the show: GOP crossing a new line.)
