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One night recently on ABC’s “20-20,” reporter John Stossel tried to put a hammerlock on the “sport” known as pro wrestling.

Together, they planned to take on Google’s hammerlock on the internet.

Mr. McConnell said a motion to vacate is akin to a “hammerlock of dysfunction” — no matter who is speaker.

Conservatives have controlled the state’s Supreme Court since 2008, and Republicans have held a hammerlock on the Legislature since 2011, when the party drew itself an impenetrable majority after taking control in a wave election.

Some far-flung communities — Charlotte and Minneapolis, for example — have taken steps to undo the hammerlock of single-family zoning.