During a recent five-city fundraising trip, President Obama told Democratic supporters in Seattle that although “a lot of people are discouraged and a lot of people are disillusioned,” they must brace themselves for a “tough” 2012 re-election campaign, lest Republicans take the White House and “fundamentally cripple” America. Even for overheated campaign rhetoric, this was a bit over the top. Especially since the results of decades of Democrat-only rule are so readily apparent in Washington, D.C., home of the president’s most ardent supporters. D.C. voters gave Obama an overwhelming 85.9-point margin of victory over Republican John McCain in 2008. The only state to even come close was Vermont, which gave Obama a 37-point advantage over McCain.

Between 1874 and 1974, the District of Columbia was run by a Board of Commissioners made up of three presidential appointees: one Democrat, one Republican, and one civil engineer of no specified party. After D.C. won home rule in 1975, all six elected mayors have been Democrats, including incumbent Vincent Gray. For years, Carol Schwartz was the lone Republican on the District Council until she lost her 2008 primary to Patrick Mara, who went on to lose in the general election.