Dying bipartisanship? More states controlled by one party after midterm elections

Rachel Schilke

November 30, 11:59 AM November 30, 11:59 AM

A trend of increasing governing trifectas may point to a decrease in bipartisanship across the country at the state level.

Close to 40 states have one party commanding a governing trifecta after the 2022 midterm elections, the most since 1947, per the Washington Post. After New Hampshire Republicans emerged with a majority in the state House of Representatives, New Hampshire became the 39th state to hold a governing trifecta, wherein the governor’s mansion and both legislative chambers are held by the same party.

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Democrats hold 17 state trifectas, and Republicans hold 22. This year, the Democrats flipped legislative chambers in Minnesota and Michigan and governorships in Massachusetts and Maryland to create four trifectas. The GOP flipped Nevada’s governorship, ending the Democratic trifecta.

This election cycle, Democrats made history in several gubernatorial contests. In Massachusetts, Gov.-elect Maura Healey became the first woman to be elected governor in the state and also the state’s first openly lesbian chief executive.

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In Maryland, Gov.-elect Wes Moore was elected to be the state’s first black governor, beating Republican challenger Dan Cox with 64.7% of the vote.

Now, Republicans and Democrats only share power at the legislative or gubernatorial levels in 11 states spread across the West, Midwest, and Northeast.

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The majority of Southern states are under Republican trifectas, similar to Democrats’ majority in the Northeast. Republicans hold a slight majority in the Midwest.

Trifectas are important for redistricting opportunities because the legislatures create the district maps and the governors approve them. Republicans controlled redistricting in 20 out of the 35 states where legislatures oversaw redistricting, and analysts have determined that the GOP has had an advantage in redistricting since 2021.