On November 4, 1980, there was a tidal wave in American politics. Former California Governor Ronald W. Reagan won 44 states, trouncing incumbent President Jimmy Carter with a thrilling 489-49 Electoral College drubbing. That’s what we remember. 44 states voted to throw out an incompetent liberal incumbent, electing the first conservative to the White House since Calvin Coolidge in 1924. But there are some other statistics about that day that we may have forgotten. The Republican Party also picked up a net of four more governorships that night… the Republican Party picked up a net of 34 members of the...