It appears that Republicans will have 72 members in the incoming House, returning the party to the status quo ante before the 2012 election. [MinnPost has an excellent visual of party control, see link.]
No House Republican incumbent lost this year and it appears that they will gain 11 seats. The new contingent will be a little rural and a less suburban than the incoming class of 2010.
Nine of the 11 gained seats are in out state Minnesota. Republicans captured seats in what are otherwise strongly Republican and conservative districts.
One measure in particular demonstrates the leanings of these seats. In 2012, Republicans captured the top 12 seats where support of the same-sex marriage constitutional amendment was greatest. In 2014, they captured nine of the 10 next strongest "Yes" vote districts that Republicans did not already hold.
As is stands, of the 26 House districts with the biggest Yes vote on the marriage amendment, Republicans now hold 25 of these seats.
The other two seats capture by Republicans last night include surburban 56A, where Republican Roz Peterson lost by only 170 votes last go around and 14B, the highly contested St. Cloud-area seat formerly held by King Banaian. When all the dollars are counted, spending on that race may top $1 million.
No comments:
Post a Comment