by Karl Kurtz
The world of state politics statistics is complicated. When we talk about state legislative control, we refer to the legislative chambers in the same state being under Democrat, Republican or split control. Tied chambers automatically put a state into the split column. The current count on legislative control is still 23D, 15R and 9 split, with the Montana House and Senate and the Pennsylvania House yet to be decided.
But if we talk in terms of total state control, which includes governors as well as legislatures, we count states as unified Democrat, unified Republican or divided. Divided government means the governor or at least one chamber of the legislature are of opposite party control. Current numbers are 15 unified D, 10 unified R, and 23 divided states, with Montana undecided.
Here are the unified D states: AR, CO, IL, IA, LA, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NM, NC, OR, WA, and WV.
Of the 7 states that moved into the unified D column as a result of this election, here's the last time each was under Democratic control: AR (1994), CO (1960), IA (1964), MD (2000), MA (1988), NH (not since our records, which go back to 1938), OR (1992).
The unified R states are: AK, FL, GA, ID, MO, ND, SC, SD, TX, and UT. The remaining states are divided or, in the case of Nebraska, nonpartisan.
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