This is how things turned out in my Duval Country which is not the highest population in the state but it is the largest city area wise. The split between R & D is very close, however too many people opted to not vote this time. With 90 million people nationwide sitting this one out the results are proof that getting the vote out is important.
And if the parties have a little extra time, money and energy after maximizing their respective get-out-the-vote operations, they might even consider not electing candidates who are turd sandwiches or giant douchebags. Just sayin' that less time trying to force the nomination of a horrible person and more time trying to nominate a better candidate would have payed off big time. The Pubbies did try their best and somehow squeaked by in spite of themselves, but the Democrats actively gamed the system to get this horrible candidate and then found they could not sell her to enough Americans in enough states. It would be nice if at least the losing party in D.C. for once could learn the correct lesson.
Would it be then be a good idea to extend it to state elections as well? Some/Most states have the same problem if you zoom in.
States are certainly free to amend their laws to do so, if they consider that in their best interests.
What's missing is that there is this myth that the electoral college has operated as it does since the start of the country, when in fact this is not true. The winner-take-all did not become the dominant standard until the late 1820s. Some of the founders actually envisioned electors being chosen by region, becoming informed on the possible candidates, then making an informed vote - which makes quite a lot of sense: think about New York - upstate NY is much more conservative than NYC, but thanks to the existing model, they're basically ignored. The current model does away with what was originally intended and leaves us with a system that actually drowns out the minority voices in safe states, leaving people to campaign in just a handful of swing states (that don't happen to be that small to start with).
I don't think anyone here is under the assumption that the electoral college is operating exactly as it operated originally, but arguing that it "does away with what was originally intended and leaves us with a system that actually drowns out the minority voices in safe states, leaving people to campaign in just a handful of swing states" bears no resemblance to reality. In this cycle the Republicans and Democrats were both forced to defend states they consider safe, and the Republicans flipped several. Many of us would prefer a return to original precepts, especially such as Senators being appointed or elected by state lawmakers to represent the state's interests (although we've seen party become such a powerful driver that I have my doubts it would make much difference) but it's quite important to remember that states are free to arrange their own electoral votes as they wish, to maximize their own interests.
As an aside, the never-ending tendency to try concentrating power into fewer and fewer hands is once of the very worst things about the American left. All of us are smarter than some of us, even if you personally dislike the decisions and values of other Americans.