Republicans will completely control 26 states
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s decision to leave the Democratic Party to become a Republican means the GOP now controls all levers of government in 26 states across the country, a high-water mark in recent years.
Justice is set to make his announcement Thursday night, during a rally with President Trump in Huntington. W.Va. He will become the first sitting Democratic governor to switch to the GOP since Buddy Roemer, the governor of Louisiana, in 1991.
Justice will become the 34th Republican governor in America. Republicans control both chambers of the state Legislature in West Virginia.
Republicans also hold the governorship and both state legislative chambers in Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida and New Hampshire.
Nebraska’s unicameral legislature is ostensibly nonpartisan, but is controlled by Republicans in practice.
{mosads}Democrats hold just 15 governorships and control all three levers of government in only six states: Oregon, California, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware.
Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature in Montana, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania, states run by Democratic governors. Democrats hold both legislative chambers in Nevada, New Mexico, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Vermont, all states run by Republican governors.
Just five states have divided legislatures, and chambers in three of those states — Washington, New York and Alaska — are governed by bipartisan coalitions.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.