Is 2016 redrawing the political map?

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Washington Examiner : Is 2016 redrawing the political map?

By MICHAEL BARONE (@MICHAELBARONE) • 8/24/16 6:20 PM

Is the political map, so familiar that even non-pundits offhandedly refer to red, blue and even purple states, changing before our eyes? Yes, at least to a limited extent — and it's probably about time.

 

For the political map has been pretty static for almost two decades, the longest since the 1880s. In the last four presidential elections 40 states and the District of Columbia with 422 electoral votes have voted for nominees of the same party each time. In only a few cases were the margins very close, as was the case with the five states with 41 electoral votes that voted for a second party just once (North Carolina, Indiana, Iowa, New Mexico and New Hampshire).

 

That leaves only five states with 75 electoral votes supporting the winning candidates George W. Bush and Barack Obama in all four elections. You will recognize them as the purplest of purple states: Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado and Nevada.