That's an accurate headline. Across the nation, Democratic candidates for Congress received 54,301,095 votes while Republicans got 53,822,442.Pretty close, but a majority voted for Democrats.
However, Republicans won more seats in the House of Representatives and hold a 234-194 majority, with 7 seats undecided.
So they lost the popular vote but won the election? Even with all the voter suppression measures in Republican-dominated states? How did they do that?
Gerrymandering. Details here.
In North Carolina, the result of Republican redistricting was that while President Obama received 49% of the votes, only 31% of the seats in the Congressional delegation went to Democrats. The ratio was even worse in other states.
Why did this happen? The short answer is, the Republican blitzkrieg of 2010. They brought national funds and nationwide organization techniques to local elections.
We saw it right here in Pamlico County.
The result of the Republican takeover of the NC General Assembly was the redrawing of districts to favor Republican candidates.
This sort of thing has been going on since the dawn of the Republic, but never before has so much money and such sophisticated tools been placed in the hands of political operatives.
Who benefits?
Who pays?
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