The significance of the Republican take-over of a majority of state legislatures in 2010 was that 2010 was a census year, and following the census Congressional districts were redrawn by state legislatures, with Republican controlled legislatures gerrymandering enough districts to provide them with an almost certain majority in the US House of Representatives until 2020, when the next redrawing of Congressional districts occur.
In North Carolina, after spending over $ 2 million to win Republican control of the legislature, right wing millionaire Art Pope served as pro bono legal counsel for the redrawing of North Carolina's electoral districts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Pope).
All of this should raise questions about whether the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision was deliberately timed to give the Republicans the ability to gerrymander Congressional districts following the census, and establish a "permanent" majority in the House of Representatives. It certainly seems that way.
Voter Suppression
In 2013, the Supreme Court overturned a key part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, paving the way for Texas and other states to enact voter ID laws. As the Washington Post reported:
"A divided Supreme Court on Tuesday invalidated a crucial component of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, ruling that Congress has not taken into account the nation's racial progress when singling out certain states for federal oversight.
Proponents of the law, which protects minority voting rights, called the ruling a death knell.
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