Associated Press: Powerful supermajorities elected to statehouses
" ... If you thought the presidential election revealed the nation's political rifts, consider the outcomes in state legislatures. The vote also created a broader tier of powerful one-party governments that can act with no need for compromise. Half of state legislatures now have veto-proof majorities, up from 13 only four years ago, according to figures compiled for The Associated Press by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
All but three states - Iowa, Kentucky and New Hampshire - have one-party control of their legislatures, the highest mark since 1928.
The result could lead to stark differences in how people live and work.
"Usually, a partisan tide helps the same party across the country, but what we saw in this past election was the opposite of that - some states getting bluer and some states getting redder," said Thad Kousser, an associate political science professor at the University of California-San Diego who focuses on state politics. As a result, "we'll see increasing policy divergence across the states." ...
I don't know that this is an entirely bad thing. The states are sometimes called laboratories of democracy. Let supermajority states play out their wisdom and their hubris. Let's see what we learn.
