The Democrats’ big wins in Virginia’s elections last week weren’t enough to gain control of the House of Delegates, and some say gerrymandering is to blame.

In all 100 House races combined, Democrats won 54 percent of the vote, compared to 44 percent for Republicans. But Democrats only won 49 seats in the 100-seat chamber.

Democrats and some redistricting advocates say the discrepancy is a result of Republican gerrymandering that packs absurd supermajorities of Democrats into a handful of districts to clear the field for Republicans in all the remaining districts. Virginia’s boundary lines have been subject of multiple lawsuits alleging gerrymandering.

Others say natural demographics work against the Democrats in urban areas where liberal Democratic voters are already heavily clustered.

(AP)