From the Washington Times:

The Republican midterm wave swept through state capitals across the nation Tuesday, with historic gains in state legislative races that will give the GOP a major advantage in influencing congressional races over the next 10 years through redistricting.

Republicans have won control of at least 19 additional state chambers now controlled by Democrats. That number is expected to increase – and to surpass the party’s 1994 total of 20 pickups – when final votes are tallied in six undecided races. The swing could eclipse the Democratic gains in the post-Watergate midterm elections of 1974, when 21 state chambers changed hands.

Republicans won control of 55 state legislative bodies and Democrats garnered control of 40, with one split. Although states use different processes to oversee redistricting, one analysis gives the GOP unchallenged control to determine the boundaries of 190 of the country’s 435 congressional districts.

“Election Day proved to be an even bigger ‘wave’ election than anyone anticipated,” said Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican State Leadership Committee. “Voters went to the polls and swept Democrats from office.”

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From the Examiner:

Republicans took control of at least 19 additional state legislative bodies Tuesday for a total of 26 in which the party controls both chambers, compared with 21 for Democrats and with three still up for grabs. Among these are legislatures in Alabama and North Carolina that had not seen elected Republican majorities since the Reconstruction elections of 1876 and 1870, respectively. Those that argued just two years ago the GOP was in danger of becoming a Southern regional party were proved resoundingly wrong as state legislative chambers in New Hampshire, Maine, Wisconsin and Minnesota flipped to GOP control. Republicans even made major inroads and could end up on top of legislative bodies in Oregon and Washington. Republicans won 16 of 30 races for state attorney general, taking five such offices away from Democrats, pulling within four of their opponents’ total. The GOP also won 17 of 26 secretary of state races, a gain of six, giving the party a 25-22 edge (three states don’t have such offices).

These developments have national implications, especially for redistricting. According to the Republican State Leadership Committee, Republicans now will play a role in redrawing the boundaries of a whopping 314 congressional districts. And lots of new Republicans in power in major swing states — such as Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado — will undoubtedly help foster a favorable climate for the 2012 GOP presidential contender.

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From the New York Times:

The party’s victories on Tuesday, giving Republicans a majority of the nation’s governorships and legislative chambers, came at a politically advantageous moment. Republicans will now have the upper hand next year just as states begin the once-a-decade process of drawing new Congressional districts, when both parties traditionally try to gain an electoral edge through gerrymandering and other forms of creative cartography.

Democrats, who had been making steady gains at the state level for years, were routed. Republicans were elected governor Tuesday in at least 11 states formerly held by Democrats, including key states like Iowa, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania that are expected to lose seats in Congress after the new census figures are released.

And Republicans were on track to win control of at least 18 legislative chambers — gaining control of both houses of the legislature in Alabama and North Carolina for the first time since Reconstruction.

“Republicans picked a good year to have a dramatic win,” said Tim Storey, a senior fellow at the National Conference of State Legislatures who studies redistricting and elections.

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From Wall Street Journal:

Lost amid the GOP’s takeover of the House was a series of wins in much smaller races that could collectively have a broader impact on whether the party controls Congress for the next decade: Republicans won control of 17 statehouse chambers on Tuesday; Democrats didn’t win a majority in a single state-level chamber currently controlled by Republicans.

The statehouse sweep gives Republicans a much stronger hand in drawing new congressional districts beginning next year.

As a result of the once-a-decade Census, some states lose some representation in Congress — and others gain seats — based on their populations. After the most recent Census, states such as Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania are expected to lose one of their seats in the U.S. House, while Texas, North Carolina, Florida and others will gain seats.

Drawing new districts to accommodate the changes is always politically messy. That’s because a congressional district can easily swing from a Republican district to a Democratic one by cutting out a minority neighborhood or roping in a wealthy suburb.

Republicans say they picked up nearly two dozen House seats after the 1990 Census by drawing districts that favored Republicans and hurt Democrats.

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From Washington Post:

For Democrats facing the likely prospect of losing control of the House of Representatives for the next two years, there is an even scarier thought: losing it for the next decade.

Republican wins in Tuesday’s midterm elections are expected to sweep far down the ballot to state legislatures across the country, giving the GOP a pronounced political advantage as the parties tackle redistricting next year. It’s the legislatures that are tasked with the once-a-decade, complicated and partisan process of redrawing congressional boundaries based on population shifts gleaned from the census.

In most states, the party that controls the political process controls the map. Republican operatives are predicting that the GOP will pick up as many as 500 additional seats, and wrestle majorities in legislatures away from the Democrats in anywhere from 10 to 18 states.

“We’ve got a minimum of 11 or 12 chambers going our way – and it could be as high as 17,” said Chris Jankowski, director of the Republican State Leadership Committee’s REDMAP project.

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