An incisive study that shows how Republicans transformed the US House of Representatives into a consistent GOP stronghold-with or without a majority. Long-term Democratic dominance in the US House of Representatives gave way to a Republican electoral advantage and frequently held majority following the GOP takeover in 1994. Republicans haven't always held the majority in recent decades, but nationalization, partisan realignment, and the gerrymandering of House seats have contributed to a political climate in which they've had an edge more often than not for nearly thirty years. The Long Red Thread examines each House election cycle from 1964 to 2020, surveying academic and journalistic literature to identify key trends and takeaways from more than a half-century of US House election results in order to predict what Americans can expect to see in the future.
"Kyle Kondik has the rare ability to combine real-world mastery of politics with the erudition of political science research. In The Long Red Thread, he unspools a spritely and much-needed history of the last six decades of House elections as the chamber morphed from a safe and sleepy Democratic bastion to today's cauldron of hyper-nationalized politics."
Walter Shapiro, staff writer for the New Republic and Roll Call columnist
