Which states are interesting. Which states are more conservative than you would expect? Less conservative? More liberal? Less liberal? New Mexico is a great example actually. It always votes democratic nowadays in the presidential election, but a friend of mine told me that it’s not as liberal as you might expect.
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Oregon is only progressive in the Willamette Valley, and it’s a closer call there than you’d think. East and west of the valley, it’s a pretty blue state.
RE: New Mexico. That just sounds like the local elected government/politics isn’t as liberal as the residents. In it’s short history NM has voted Democratic more than Republican.
So do you mean the residents?
Orange County California is about as conservative as it gets. It’s basically Texas with better weather.
the issue with the red-blue divide is rarely state-bounded. urban centers tend to vote liberal, and it bleeds out into red the further you go out. depending on the area, it might turn deep red right at the city border, or it might go a really long ways and stay blue for a while. there can also be shifts in color from county to county, usually reflecting class divisions entrenched by tax law and local social culture. so a state “being” red or blue usually comes down to how many cities there are and what portion of the population is in those cities, plus or minus the distribution from the population centers. america is not red states and blue states, though state legislatures definitely act that way, practically speaking — america is a red sea with blue polka dots. if state boundaries were shifted around even slightly, the colors of the state legislatures would flip drastically.
There’s a LOT of California that is very conservative.
I can’t say Chicago politics Is of a difference kind
Maine is mostly forest, farm and mountain but because most of our people (voters) live in southern and coastal Maine we still vote blue. Then every presidential election all the farmers get mad that their cows don’t get a vote.
Rural New England (especially Vermont) is a lot more right leaning than a lot of people expect, particularly when it comes to social issues
Missouri used to be a purple or bell weather state, but now has turned very solid republican red and seems to be getting redder. Democrats used to try and campaign for the state, but they barely try anymore. I can’t think of any other states that are turning redder.
The current politics in the state aren’t all that surprising, but in context of the history of the state it kind of is. Oklahoma is the site of the only socialist rebellion. There was a lot of nearly communism level political work here in the first half of the 20th century. Dust bowl poverty, tenant farmers, WWI, integrated communities of laborers, all added up to a movement that would absolutely seem extreme left radical now. Somehow it all slipped away, and now “communism” is when high gas prices.
[Green Corn Rebellion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Corn_Rebellion), [Woody Guthrie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Guthrie#Political_views_and_relation_to_the_Communist_Party), [the original flag](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Flag_of_Oklahoma_%281911%E2%80%931925%29.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Oklahoma_%281911%E2%80%931925%29.svg.png)
It’s mostly urban/ rural divide. New York and Virginia are other examples.The other issue to consider is political leanings can be skewed based on who controls the state government. The party who dominates a state government also controls how legislative districts are drawn which further pushes them towards one political party or the other.
Austin is the capital city of Texas and is straight up full of liberals
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Alaska is unique. It’s not really a red state as a single election every 4 years somehow classifies everything, but even someone’s political party isn’t predictive of their vote. Their Congress has Democrats caucusing with Republicans and vice versa.
In West Virginia, Trump had almost a 40 point lead over Biden (similar in other elections since after Clinton). Yet only about a 4% lead in registered voters.
One party is increasingly allying with urban interests and the other with rural. Or at least perceived to do so.
California and Washington are both more conservative than you would think.
Seattle, SF, and LA make them liberal
People, including other Americans, tend to picture New York City when they hear “New York.” But actually, NYC is geographically barely 1% of a state that’s bigger than England and largely rural (lots of crappy little towns that look like [this](https://www.google.com/maps/@43.2745687,-75.190366,3a,75y,246.78h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sh7x1qZUyVUi8WlJZSmE3Ow!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dh7x1qZUyVUi8WlJZSmE3Ow%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D246.78268%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656)). Over 17% of it is the Adirondack Mountains, a state park larger than several national parks put together. New York has other cities as well – like Rochester, Buffalo, and Albany – but it gets really conservative really fast once you leave them. We’re talking major Trump country.
That being said, it’s more redneck libertarian, gun nut, “don’t tread on me” conservatism rather than the Christian Right evangelical stuff you get in the Bible Belt. Religion generally isn’t a big concern up there.
The ones where cows outnumber humans are surprisingly political.
Massachusetts will always vote blue in Federal elections but the state is still very moderate, low key culturally conservative (puritanical really), and skeptical of change despite the state’s voting habits
All states are political and have their own political scenes, machines, and so on.
When I explain to people outside the region that MA has some really conservative pockets, they tend not to believe me at first.
Washington state has a progressive reputation but it changes pretty darn quickly once you leave the Seattle-Tacoma corridor
All of New England despite usually being solid blue states often elects Republican governors. Vermont and MA have Republican governors right this moment(although clearly not Republican in the same sense as Ron Desantis or Greg Abbott)
When Minnesota became a state there was a huge fight over whether it should be a “tall” state or a “wide” state. The former favored Democrats, the latter Republicans. At the time Democrats were a mishmash of Southern slavery advocates and basically New England interests. Minnesota Democrats were very much the latter.
The Tall Staters won out but by a twist of fate Minnesota was the first state to offer troops to the Republican president when the Civil War broke out. It voted “not Democratic” through 1928 (so the Tall Staters’ plan kind of backfired), swung for the next 40 some years and has voted Democratic ever since Carter (the longest such streak in the nation).
Even today, “Yankee culture politics” is alive and well here, making us a relative liberal bastion surrounded by mildly to heavily conservative states.
New Mexico is certainly not as liberal as you might expect (in fact it felt quite red to me). Texas is a lot more liberal than people expect. It was kinda funny, when I went to NM for a trip last year all tourists from TX were masking up everywhere and anyone from NM were basically anti mask lol
Florida is an odd one to me. Several big cities (Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville…), a large Latino population, a big LGBTQ scene, a major science presence with NASA, a very environmentally sensitive state that will be highly susceptible to global warming… And yet it’s consistently voted Republican lately.
I knew Arizona was stuffed with Republicans when I moved here. I didn’t know their “party” would devolve into a cult who worship a fat rapist criminal, and seek to destroy US democracy.
When you go further inland from the coastal cities, California is redder than outsiders might expect. Trump had over 5M Californians vote for him in 2020.
Outside of CA, Joe Manchin has been somewhat of a surprise to me. He has gotten re-elected multiple times in ruby-red WV, though he’s also among the most conservative Democrats in government.
Michigan has some real crazy redneck conservatives of course but most of them are very friendly and good hearted
Kentucky has had only two Republican governors in the last 50 years, and neither one was re-elected. The state legislature wasn’t controlled by republicans until 2017
CA is somewhat interesting:
* There *is* a sizeable minority of Republicans in-state (note: we have more republicans than most states have *voters*), but it’s a small (and shrinking) minority, and the party is increasingly irrelevant at the state level.
* CA is one of the only states w/ a true, across-the-board Dem supermajority at the state level, and have for the last decade or two (ie since republicans shot themselves in the foot w/ a bunch of racist, anti-immigrant, anti-minority bills in the 90’s that backfired spectacularly). Note also that *since* that our state legislative gridlock has gone to zero, and as such *none* of us are interested in putting CA republicans in positions of power ever again (note: except the few remaining CA republicans, most of whom just want lower taxes, and would happily burn the state to the ground if that’s what it’d take to get their tax bill 2% lower)
* We counterbalance this with *fiscally conservative* Dem governors who are willing to veto the state legislature (ie. Brown, Newsom), and keep the state’s budget in check. Note that other states counterbalance this w/ eg. a liberal state legislature + “fiscally responsible” republican governors; we say f— that and elected Jerry Brown (and Newsom) instead
* CA voters will happily spend money on stuff (see local / state bond measures, sales taxes, CAHSR, etc), but we *also* want a balanced state budget (and Brown’s rainy day fund), since most of us remember when the state was going bankrupt in the mid 2000’s, and do not want to return to that anytime soon
* CA voters will happily vote to save the environment / planet / etc., but will *also* vote to f— anyone who interferes with their own personal paradise (or property / retirement). Anything that tries to change CA prop 13, property zoning, etc., is more or less DOA, and CA voters can be surprisingly conservative (albeit in a way that is somewhat distinct from anyone except upper-middle-class republicans) when it comes to things that affect them personally
* That said, there’s definitely a strong and growing conflict between older voters that own their own houses, and younger voters that can’t afford to buy in. *But*, millenials still have careers and some of them *are* buying houses (and others will inherit, etc), and once you actually own property and have a vested stake in it, your politics tend to realign more towards keeping it…
Oh, and one last thing: *true* Northern California (ie. Jefferson) is basically oregon, and rural Oregon / WA / North-of-SF/Sonoma/Sacramento-California is as alt-right and neo-confederate (albeit pro-drug legalization) as you can come in the US, lol.
Urban areas are often Democratic. Rural areas are often Republican. Suburban areas are generally the “purple” swing areas, although they’re trending blue generally.
There are several exceptions:
Vermont is extremely rural yet is one of the most Democratic states in the country. Rural areas in New England generally are more favorable to Democrats anyway, aside from Northern Maine.
Alaska has a weird situation where the most rural parts of the state are also very Democratic, mainly due to the Native Alaskan population living there.
The Iron Range in northern Minnesota as well as parts of northern/western Wisconsin are relatively rural areas that still somewhat maintain their Democratic stronghold status like the rest of the Rust Bet did historically.
New Mexico has lots of rural Democratic areas, most likely attributed to the Hispanic population.
The “Black Belt” of the South is a string of rural Democratic areas populated primarily by African Americans where former slave plantations once stood. It’s easily visible on a map in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.
Hawaii is Democratic basically everywhere, their state Senate was 25-0 Democratic for a while.
On the flip side, Republicans generally only have [a few](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/republicans-democrats-cities/) metro areas that they are favored in, but these are mostly smaller metros or cities in either the South, Midwest, or Mountain states.
Surprised how blue Vermont is. Super liberal, which is the last thing I’d expect
Ny would be turning red if it wasnt for new york city being very heavily democrat
I’m always surprised that Mass, specifically Boston is so blue.
Vermont. They are among the most pro-2A states, have had constitutional carry for a long time now, and have a definite libertarian leaning it seems… but they go democratic every time.