Gerrymandering was probably a factor.  The Democratic Party being painted (rightly or wrongly) as anti-2nd Amendment was definitely a factor.  My DH and all of the guys he works with would vote for a ham sandwich, if the ham sandwich promised to bring back the big machine gun clips they b*tch about being taken away.  These guys never go shooting, except maybe after tax season (they're accountants) but they all buy big guns, show them off to their buddies, and put them away in the closet/gun safe/"collection."  I wish somebody would start a new political party, "Big Guns and Birth Control" because it's ridiculous that we can't have both according to the current political system.  Or maybe the religious nutcases should go start their own party and then there might be some hope for the GOP.