When the Republicans seized control of the House of Representatives in 2010, both parties agreed on this much: Democrats wouldn’t get it back anytime soon.
Now with 247 seats, Republicans hold their largest majority since the Great Depression, and because state legislatures draw district lines to benefit incumbents, fewer than 40 seats are now considered truly competitive.
But the political force that is Donald J. Trump has called that shared assumption into question. By alienating huge blocks of general election voters in his drive for the Republican presidential nomination, Mr. Trump has created the possibility of a Democratic breakthrough.
“What Trump has done is inject unpredictability into 2016 House races,” said David Wasserman, an expert on House races at the Cook Political Report newsletter.
More at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/04/us/politics/as-trump-rises-house-republicans-lose-that-sense-of-security.html
