As Ramesh indicates, in the blue state of Pennsylvania, which Barack Obama won by more than 10 percentage points, a Republican won a statewide race for a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The win by Judge Joan Melvin in a partisan election will tip the balance of the court to four Republicans and three Democrats. Melvin won by a margin of 53 percent to 47 percent despite being outspent 3 to 1. Her opponent received a million dollars from a single union and a Philadelphia trial-lawyers organization. Republicans also won both open seats on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court and at least two of the four open seats on the Superior Court (the other two races remain too close to call as I write this).

Melvin’s win has implications for the future of state politics. Pennsylvania has a five-member Legislative Reapportionment Commission that handles state legislative redistricting. Two members are Republicans, two members are Democrats, and the fifth member is supposed to be chosen by the other four members. But if those four members can’t agree on a choice,