Oregon Partisan control Voter Dashboard

When one party controls both the legislative and executive branches, it becomes much easier to pass laws that serve political interests, not the public’s. That includes laws that shape election rules to favor the party in power, rather than fairly represent the voters.

Single-party control is growing across the country — and with it, the risk of partisan overreach. Since 2008, the number of states under full control by one party has jumped from 23 to 39 (15 Democratic and 24 Republican states).

More concerning, 28 of these states have supermajority control in at least one chamber of the state legislature, which means they can steamroll their party’s agenda.

Nonpartisan primaries, majority-winner voting systems, and independent redistricting commissions are proven reforms that reduce partisan control, restore real competition and fairness to our elections, and give more power to more people.

When we are free to choose the best leaders, regardless of party, democracy works better. These reforms are how we level the playing field and ensure every vote counts.

States with divided government — where no single party controls everything — are often the most competitive and consequential in national elections. In fact, six of the seven key swing states (AZ, MI, PA, NC, NV, and WI) have divided control.

But here’s the issue: Even in these closely contested states, most congressional and legislative districts aren't competitive. When statewide races are tight, but district races aren’t, that’s usually a sign of gerrymandering — where political lines are drawn to protect parties, not represent people.

To fix the system, we need to make every vote count, in every district, in every state.