Suburbs more important in politics

For the first time ever, voters in the suburbs are responsible for a majority of the seats in the U.S. Congress, according to a new analysis by Congressional Quarterly. Of the 435 seats in the chamber, some 220 are made up of voters who mostly reside in suburbs.

The demographic shift has important meaning because it means party appeals to suburban voters are more important than ever before and is important for the control of Congress, according to the story. Even more interesting is appearance of two kinds of suburbs -- an outer suburbia that is more Republican, compared to an inner suburbia that is more Democratic.

The newer, outer suburbs are almost all overwhelmingly white, wealthier than the rest of the country and conservative-leaning, traits that lend themselves to the Republicans’ current dominance of their congressional districts. The inner suburbs have a more urban feel, both in their atmospherics and demographics, with more ethnic diversity and a greater range of income. The Democrats, whose strongest congressional base remains in the nation’s 90 urban districts, also do well in neighboring inner suburbia, just not well enough to offset the GOP’s looming advantage at the metropolitan edges.