Democratic Road To The White House Just Got Easier

The other states that experiment with proportional representation with their electoral votes, Maine and Nebraska, don't have a lot of EVs and their Congressional districts are ideologically similar. But if North Carolina goes ahead and delivers 2 EVs to the winner of the Presidential race and then 1 EV to the winner of each of its 13 Congressional districts, then that changes things in a big way. 7 of the 13 Congressional districts are currently held by Democrats, and while you wouldn't expect the nominee to pick up all seven, four or five is a distinct possibility. So even if the Republican nominee romps, what would have been a 15-0 shutout is not 10-5. Considering how close the past two elections have been, that's a MAJOR difference, and makes it even more difficult to hold the White House for Republicans. If this was in place in 2000, Gore would have received 3 electoral votes (pdf), and thus won the election. CDs 1, 4, and 12 have went Democratic the past 4 straight elections, and in 1992 CDs 7 and 11 joined them. With the state of the nation as it is, plus the fact that same-day registration has been approved in North Carolina (which will increase turnout, usually a positive development for Democrats), 3 congressional district victories would be the very least we could expect, and if hometown boy John Edwards is the nominee, the state perhaps goes in play entirely.

To be clear, states have their own ability to apportion electoral votes any way they see fit. I personally believe that the winner of the popular vote should get all of a states' EVs, as is called for in the National Popular Vote plan. Maybe this latest twist will bring Republicans on board with that plan.