Election 2010: Regional Polarization in GOP House Gains

Every red dot represents a Republican pick-up (66 in all). The three blue dots are the sum total of Democratic takeovers in GOP districts (Delaware-AL, Louisiana-2, and Hawaii-1). The net Republican gain appears to settling in at 63. Thirty-three states gave the GOP at least one additional seat.

The Election Day “wave” for the Republicans produced a bumper crop of 23 new seats in the South and Border States, where the GOP traditionally does well. This region accounted for more than a third of total Republican gains.

But the key to the Republican House takeover occurred in the North Central states through the industrial Midwest. Pennsylvania (5), Ohio (5), and most surprisingly, New York (6) and Illinois (4) joined Indiana (2), Maryland (1), Michigan (2), Minnesota (1), New Hampshire (2), and New Jersey (1) in shifting a regional total of 29 to the GOP.

A good deal of this is simply a restoration of the pre-2006 status quo. Republicans lost some previously safe seats in the Democratic years of 2006 and 2008, and what goes around, comes around.

The Democrats captured traditionally Republican Congressional seats in 2006 and 2008 because of one factor: displeasure with President George W. Bush. With Bush out of office, suddenly the GOP gains. Of course, Obama and his far left minions in the Congress helped push Democrats to the LEFT and made them vulnerable.

Has normalcy been restored with a regional polarization of political parties?

I would say yes with the national Democratic Party having become a two state (California and New York), and ethnic based party (African Americans, Jews and Latinos).