Dem gains in the Mountain West

kos for Daily Kos

Daily Kos Staff

Monday November 20, 2006 · 10:46 AM PST

2006/11/20 · 10:46

The Salt Lake Tribune has a great graphic (PDF) of Dem gains in House races in the West.

Click on the link to see those gains in pretty colors, but in short:

Democrats gained in their share of the House vote in every one of the Mountain West stats -- Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The biggest gain came in Arizona (where we picked up two House seats), the smallest in Utah.

Democrats won the House vote in Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico.

In 1996, 82 percent of House seats from the Mountain West where Republican. In 2007, it'll be 58 percent.

Democrat/Republican split of the vote in the eight Mountain West states:

Arizona: 45/52
Colorado: 55/41
Idaho: 40/56
Montana: 39/59
Nevada:50/45
New Mexico: 56/44
Utah: 43/52
Wyoming: 48/48

From the story accompanying the graphic:

A Tribune analysis of U.S. House results shows that Democrats have narrowed a 20-point GOP edge in 2000 to a slim 48 percent to 47 percent deficit in 2006. In three states - Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico - Democrats have turned their red states blue, winning a majority in the House races.
In 1996, the eight states in the Rocky Mountain West sent 18 Republicans and four Democrats to the House. When Congress convenes next year, there will be 11 Democrats and 15 Republicans representing the Western districts.

Democrats now control five of the eight governorships and, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, picked up seats in five of the eight legislatures in 2006 [...]

"You now have five Western states that are in critical play for 2008," says Denver-based political activist Mike Stratton, referring to Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada and, now, Montana. A Democratic presidential candidate who can win two or three of those states will win the White House, he says.

Dem gains in the Mountain West

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