Political party strength in U.S. states

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Registered Democrats, Republicans and independents in the United States as of January 2004.^[1]

The following table shows all the U.S. states and to what party (Democratic or Republican) their state governors belong. Also indicated is the majority party of the state legislatures' upper and lower houses as well as U.S. Senate representation. Nebraska's legislature is unicameral, i.e., it has only one legislative house and is officially non-partisan, though party affiliation still has an unofficial influence on the legislative process.)

Throughout most of the 20th century, although the Republican party often held power at a national level, the Democratic party held almost uncontested power at the state level, especially in the solid South, where the Republican Party was virtually nonexistent. (For much of the 20th century, North Dakota was a one-party Republican state, the only one in the country.)

However, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Republicans slowly increased their strength in the state legislatures, especially in the South, where the increasingly conservative Republican party took the place of the Democrats, who had been weakened by their party's support for the Civil Rights Movement starting in the 1940s. In the 1990s, the Republicans finally overtook the Democrats in holding majorities in statehouses and governorships.

Currently, majority control of overall seats in the state legislature has been changing every few years. As of the U.S. gubernatorial elections of 2006, the Democratic party holds an outright majority of 669 with 3,989 seats over the Republican party's 3,320 in number of seats elected on a partisan ballot. Of the 7,382 seats in all of the state legislatures combined, independents and third parties account for only 17 members, not counting the 49 members of the Nebraska Legislature, which is the only legislature in the nation to hold nonpartisan elections to determine its members.

[edit] Current party strength

(a) Independents caucusing with Democratic Party.

(b) Independents caucusing with Republican Party.

(c) Vacancy.

(d) Nebraska has no lower house.

(e) The Alaska State Senate has a coalition majority of all the senate's Democrats and several Republicans, with the remaining Republicans in the minority.

(f) The Tennessee House of Representatives has an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, with a speaker who is officially from neither party.

(g) Obama–Biden won an electoral vote in Nebraska by winning a plurality of the votes in Nebraska's 2nd congressional district.

[edit] Regional breakdowns

Local and regional political circumstances often influence party strength.

[edit] State government

Governor

Upper	Lower

[edit] Presidential election results and congressional delegations

Presidential Election

Senate	House of Representatives

[edit] Historical party strength

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

The following table shows how many state legislatures were controlled outright by each party.

[edit] References

1. ^ "Neuhart, P. (22 January, 2004). Why politics is fun from catbirds' seats. USA Today.". http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/neuharth/2004-01-22-neuharth_x.htm. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. 
2. ^ "Paul Sanford wins state senate District 7 Republican runoff over Sam Givhan"
3. ^ "Greg Albritton takes GOP primary for Pat Lindsey's seat"
4. ^ "Coleman, Dunn head to runoff in Senate District 19"
5. ^ "In Alabama House District 6, Jenny Askins is Dem pick, Phil Williams gets GOP nod"
6. ^ "Democrat claims seat in state Senate runoff"
7. ^ "District 40 seat vacant"
8. ^ "Governor sets special election for Young's seat"
9. ^ "Franklin P. Hall to retire from House of Delegates"
10. ^ "Kaine names Del. Melvin to fill Portsmouth judge post"
11. ^ "Senate race is a broken record"
12. ^ "Democrat Chu, Republican Chu to Face Off for Vacant California House Seat"