The White House on Wednesday blamed redistricting for the Republicans’ success in Tuesday’s elections, and admitted that President Obama was hoping for a better result for Democrats.
“[T]here are a whole lot of theories that have been proffered about why Democrats have not performed as well as we would like, either at the state level or in off-year elections,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest. “Republicans have focused on redistricting … and that has recently started to bear fruit for them.”
Demographers have noted that Democrats’ tendency to live in denser, urban areas dilutes their voting power when legislative lines are drawn, Earnest said.
Earnest said it was unclear what other factors may have affected races around the country, and why Obama’s resounding electoral victories haven’t shored up the party at the state and local level.
Obama’s agenda enjoys “strong support across the country and, you know, that’s a result of the president’s success in winning a broader national debate in 2008 and 2012,” Earnest said. He said it was difficult to say precisely “why the local- and state-level trajectory has not followed the path that we would have liked.”
But he did acknoweldge that Republicans have done a better job focusing on state and local elections. Particularly in off-year elections, “Republicans have been more effective in turning out their vote,” Earnest conceded. “But … obviously, the president … would like to see Democrats do better.”
Democrats failed to retake the Virginia Senate after spending heavily in that state, and also failed to hold onto the Kentucky governorship.
