Louisiana elected a Republican as its next governor last week, ending eight years of Democratic control of the corner office. In so doing, voters ensured the state’s governorship, Senate and House of Representatives would all be controlled by one party.
Political smart alecks call this a “trifecta,” a term most often associated with horse racing. There are currently 39 trifectas across the U.S.: 22 are controlled by Republicans and 17 by Democrats. In January, Louisiana will make it an even 40.
Here in New England, five of the six state governments sport a trifecta. Only Vermont currently mixes its Democratic peanut butter with Republican chocolate.
This wasn’t always the case, though. Even here in sapphire blue Massachusetts, we just ended an eight-year stretch of amethyst purple, with Republican Gov. Charlie Baker offsetting the historically Democratic Legislature. In fact, Republicans have controlled the corner office more often than Democrats since Michael Dukakis left office in 1991.
The only currently divided government in New England has followed a similar pattern, it’s just a year behind: Vermont Gov. Phil Scott’s been in office for seven years thus far, marking a Baker-like run for a Republican executive working with a Democratic-controlled Legislature.
There’s a similar story up in Maine, even if they historically don’t like being associated with Massachusetts. Its current blue trifecta follows years of a red executive branch led by Republican Gov. Paul LePage, and a stint of GOP rule in the state’s Senate.
New Hampshire’s home to New England’s only Republican trifecta, though the parties seemingly trade control of the House, Senate and governor’s office every few years. Those consistent changes are reflective of the state’s enduring status as a swing state in presidential elections.
The only decade-plus trifectas in New England are south of Massachusetts, in Rhode Island and Connecticut. Even there, however, things aren’t so cut and dried.
Down in Connecticut, Democratic dominance is a relatively recent affair. In fact, Democrats there wandered the gubernatorial wilderness for 20 years before their recent streak in the state’s executive office.
In Little Rhody, the governor’s office was inhabited by political chameleon Lincoln Chafee, who was a Republican in his previous political office as a U.S. senator before declaring himself an independent and running for governor. He won that race in 2010, but switched to the Democratic Party in 2013, three years before his (spoiler alert) unsuccessful White House run in 2016.
In addition to Vermont, the states without trifectas are: Alaska, Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.
