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{{Short description|none}} <!-- This short description is INTENTIONALLY "none" - please see WP:SDNONE before you consider changing it! -->
[[Image:southernusvotes04.gif|right|thumb|Electoral vote of the [[Southern United States]] in the 2004 presidential election.]]
{{multiple issues|{{more footnotes needed|date=April 2017}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2017}}}}
[[File:Map_of_USA_South.svg|thumb|300px|The Southern United States as defined by the [[United States Census Bureau]].<ref>Regions and Divisions—2007 Economic Census". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved January 14, 2013.</ref> The "South" and its regions are defined in various ways, however.]]


The '''politics of the Southern United States''' generally refers to the political landscape of the [[Southern United States]]. The institution of [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] had a profound impact on the politics of the Southern United States, causing the [[American Civil War]] and continued subjugation of African-Americans from the [[Reconstruction era]] to the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. Scholars have linked slavery to contemporary political attitudes, including racial resentment.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691176741/deep-roots|title=Deep Roots|date=2018-05-22|isbn=978-0-691-17674-1|language=en|last1=Acharya|first1=Avidit|last2=Blackwell|first2=Matthew|last3=Sen|first3=Maya|publisher=Princeton University Press }}</ref> From the Reconstruction era to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, pockets of the Southern United States were characterized as being "authoritarian enclaves".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691133386/paths-out-of-dixie|title=Paths Out of Dixie|last=Mickey|first=Robert|date=2015|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-13338-6|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/H/bo28381225.html|title=How to Save a Constitutional Democracy|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2018|pages=22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kuo|first=Didi|date=2019|title=Comparing America: Reflections on Democracy across Subfields|journal=Perspectives on Politics|language=en|volume=17|issue=3|pages=788–800|doi=10.1017/S1537592719001014|s2cid=202249318 |issn=1537-5927}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/boundary-control/subnational-authoritarianism-in-the-united-states/85765543D8C22FBA874D213C5D73144E|chapter=Subnational Authoritarianism in the United States|last=Gibson|first=Edward L.|title=Boundary Control |date=2013|website=Boundary Control: Subnational Authoritarianism in Federal Democracies|pages=35–71 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781139017992.003 |isbn=9780521127332 |language=en|access-date=2019-12-26}}</ref>
'''Politics of the Southern United States''' (or '''Southern politics''') refers to the political landscape of the [[Southern United States]]. Due to the region's unique cultural and historic heritage, the American South has been prominently involved in numerous political issues faced by the [[United States]] as a whole, including [[States' rights]], [[slavery]], the [[American Civil War]], and the [[African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|American Civil Rights Movement]]. Due to the South's conservative political leanings and political power, the South has seen the start of several political movements (such as [[George C. Wallace]]'s [[American Independent Party]]) and the region plays a crucial role in Presidential politics (with the majority of the recent [[Presidents of the United States]] having come from the region).


The region was once referred to as the [[Solid South]], due to its large consistent support for Democrats in all elective offices from 1877 to 1964. As a result, its Congressmen gained seniority across many terms, thus enabling them to control many [[United States congressional committee|congressional committees]]. Following the passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], Southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while Northeastern states became more reliably Democratic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300077230/race-campaign-politics-and-realignment-south|title=Race, Campaign Politics, and the Realignment in the South|website=yalebooks.yale.edu|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605173805/https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300077230/race-campaign-politics-and-realignment-south|archive-date=June 5, 2019|access-date=June 9, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Regional Variations in the Realignment of American Politics, 1944–2004">{{cite journal|last1=Bullock|first1=Charles S.|last2=Hoffman|first2=Donna R.|last3=Gaddie|first3=Ronald Keith|date=2006|title=Regional Variations in the Realignment of American Politics, 1944–2004|journal=Social Science Quarterly|volume=87|issue=3|pages=494–518|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00393.x|issn=0038-4941|quote=The events of 1964 laid open the divisions between the South and national Democrats and elicited distinctly different voter behavior in the two regions. The agitation for civil rights by southern blacks, continued white violence toward the civil rights movement, and President Lyndon Johnson's aggressive leadership all facilitated passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. [...] In the South, 1964 should be associated with GOP growth while in the Northeast this election contributed to the eradication of Republicans.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Gaddie|first=Ronald Keith|date=February 17, 2012|title=Realignment|url=http://oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195381948.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195381948-e-13|url-status=live|journal=Oxford Handbooks Online|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195381948.013.0013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141820/http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195381948.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195381948-e-13|archive-date=June 12, 2018|access-date=June 9, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Stanley|first=Harold W.|date=1988|title=Southern Partisan Changes: Dealignment, Realignment or Both?|journal=The Journal of Politics|volume=50|issue=1|pages=64–88|doi=10.2307/2131041|issn=0022-3816|jstor=2131041|s2cid=154860857 |quote=Events surrounding the presidential election of 1964 marked a watershed in terms of the parties and the South (Pomper, 1972). The Solid South was built around the identification of the Democratic party with the cause of white supremacy. Events before 1964 gave white southerners pause about the linkage between the Democratic party and white supremacy, but the 1964 election, passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 altered in the minds of most the positions of the national parties on racial issues.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Gary|last2=Schofield|first2=Norman|year=2008|title=The Transformation of the Republican and Democratic Party Coalitions in the U.S.|journal=Perspectives on Politics|volume=6|issue=3|pages=433–50|doi=10.1017/S1537592708081218|s2cid=145321253 |issn=1541-0986|quote=1964 was the last presidential election in which the Democrats earned more than 50 percent of the white vote in the United States.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674012486|title=The Rise of Southern Republicans – Earl Black, Merle Black|website=hup.harvard.edu|publisher=Harvard University Press|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612135934/http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674012486|archive-date=June 12, 2018|access-date=June 9, 2018|quote=When the Republican party nominated Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater—one of the few northern senators who had opposed the Civil Rights Act—as their presidential candidate in 1964, the party attracted many racist southern whites but permanently alienated African-American voters. Beginning with the Goldwater-versus-Johnson campaign more southern whites voted Republican than Democratic, a pattern that has recurred in every subsequent presidential election. [...] Before the 1964 presidential election the Republican party had not carried any Deep South state for eighty-eight years. Yet shortly after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, hundreds of Deep South counties gave Barry Goldwater landslide majorities.}}</ref><ref name="Issue Evolution">{{cite book|url=https://press.princeton.edu/titles/4385.html|title=Issue Evolution|date=6 September 1990 |publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691023311 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516081536/https://press.princeton.edu/titles/4385.html|archive-date=May 16, 2018|access-date=June 9, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Gary|last2=Schofield|first2=Norman|year=2003|title=Activists and Partisan Realignment in the United States|journal=American Political Science Review|volume=97|issue=2|pages=245–60|doi=10.1017/S0003055403000650|s2cid=12885628 |issn=1537-5943|quote=By 2000, however, the New Deal party alignment no longer captured patterns of partisan voting. In the intervening 40 years, the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts had triggered an increasingly race-driven distinction between the parties. [...] Goldwater won the electoral votes of five states of the Deep South in 1964, four of them states that had voted Democratic for 84 years (Califano 1991, 55). He forged a new identification of the Republican party with racial conservatism, reversing a century-long association of the GOP with racial liberalism. This in turn opened the door for Nixon's "Southern strategy" and the Reagan victories of the eighties.}}</ref> Studies show that some Southern whites during the 1960s shifted to the Republican Party, in part due to racial conservatism.<ref name="Issue Evolution" /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Valentino|first1=Nicholas A.|last2=Sears|first2=David O.|author-link2=David O. Sears|year=2005|title=Old Times There Are Not Forgotten: Race and Partisan Realignment in the Contemporary South|journal=American Journal of Political Science|volume=49|issue=3|pages=672–88|doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2005.00136.x|issn=0092-5853|author-link1=Nicholas Valentino}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ilyana|first1=Kuziemko|last2=Ebonya|first2=Washington|year=2018|title=Why Did the Democrats Lose the South? Bringing New Data to an Old Debate|journal=American Economic Review|volume=108|issue=10|pages=2830–2867|doi=10.1257/aer.20161413|issn=0002-8282|doi-access=free}}</ref> Majority support for the Democratic Party amongst Southern whites first fell away at the presidential level, and several decades later at the state and local levels.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/15/us/politics/swing-history.html|title=Over the Decades, How States Have Shifted|last=Amanda Cox|date=2012-10-15|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-11-09|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Both parties are competitive in a handful of Southern states, known as [[swing state]]s.
== Early political history ==
When America's first political parties developed in the late in the first term of Washington's presidency the North supported the Federalist believing in a more monarch based government while the South stood behind Jefferson and his interpretation of the [[10th amendment]]. When the [[XYZ Affair]] took place resentment of the French quickly developed while the North wanted to resolve the situation diplomatically. This would be the start of a split between the South and the North.


==Southern states==
Early in the 19th century, the South's economy became focused nearly exclusively on agriculture, which was largely supported by [[slavery]]. Due to the region's agricultural success, the South became integral to the political [[history of the United States]], with many of the United States' early military and political leaders (including nine of its first twelve [[Presidents of the United States|presidents]]) coming from the Southern United States.
{{Further|Southern United States#Geography}}
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the following states are considered part of the South:
* [[Alabama]]
* [[Arkansas]]
* [[Delaware]]
* [[Florida]]
* [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]
* [[Kentucky]]
* [[Louisiana]]
* [[Maryland]]
* [[Mississippi]]
* [[North Carolina]]
* [[Oklahoma]]
* [[South Carolina]]
* [[Tennessee]]
* [[Texas]]
* [[Virginia]]
* [[West Virginia]]


Other definitions vary. For example, [[Missouri]] is often considered a [[border states (American Civil War)|border]] or [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] state, although many [[Ozark]] Missourians claim Missouri as a Southern state.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/which-states-are-in-the-south/|title=Which States Are in the South?|date=2014-04-30|work=FiveThirtyEight|access-date=2017-11-04|language=en-US}}</ref>
However, by the middle of the 19th century sectional differences surrounding the issues of slavery, [[taxation]], [[tariffs]], and [[states' rights]] led to a strong [[secession]] movement. The political drive to secede from the United States hit its peak after the election of [[Abraham Lincoln]] in 1860. The Southern states that seceded formed the [[Confederate States of America]] with [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]] as its capital.


==Post-Civil War through 19th century==
During the four year [[American Civil War|Civil War]] which followed, the South found itself as the primary battleground, with almost all of the main battles taking place on Southern soil. The Confederates were eventually defeated by the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]].
At the end of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the South entered the [[Reconstruction era]] (1865–1877). The [[Reconstruction Acts]] of 1867 and 1868 placed most of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederate states]] under military rule (except [[Tennessee]]), which required [[Union Army]] governors to approve appointed officials and candidates for election. They enfranchised [[African Americans|African American]] citizens and required voters to recite an oath of allegiance to the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]], effectively discouraging still-rebellious individuals from voting, and led to Republican control of many state governments.<ref>{{cite web | title = History Engine: The Second Reconstruction Act is passed | publisher = University of Virginia | url = https://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/1430}}</ref> This was interpreted as anarchy and upheaval by many residents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.neh.gov/news/reconstruction-vs-redemption|title=Reconstruction vs. Redemption|website=National Endowment for the Humanities|language=en|access-date=2017-11-09}}</ref> However, Democrats would regain power in most Southern states by the late 1870s. Later, this period came to be referred to as [[Redemption (United States history)|Redemption]]. From 1890&ndash;1908 states of the former Confederacy passed statutes and amendments to their [[State constitution (United States)|state constitutions]], that effectively disenfranchised [[African Americans]] from voting, as well as some [[poor white]]s. They did this through devices such as [[poll tax (United States)|poll taxes]] and [[literacy test]]s.<ref>Michael Perman, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=CamlCytE1IgC&q=literacy+tests&pg=PR7 Pursuit of Unity: A Political History of the American South]'' (2009)</ref>


In the 1890s the South split bitterly''',''' with poor cotton farmers moving to the [[People's Party (United States)|Populist]] movement. In coalition with the remaining Republicans, the Populists briefly controlled Alabama and North Carolina. The local elites, townspeople, and landowners fought back, regaining control of the Democratic party by 1898.
After the Civil War, the South found itself devastated, both in terms of its population, [[infrastructure]], and economy. The South also found itself under [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], with Union military troops in direct political control of the South. Many white Southerners who had actively supported the Confederacy found themselves without many of the basic rights of citizenship (such as the ability to vote) while, with the passage of the [[Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|13th Amendment]] to the [[Constitution of the United States]] (which outlawed slavery), the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th Amendment]] (which granted full U.S. citizenship to [[African American]]s) and the [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|15th amendment]] (which extended the right to vote to [[Black (people)|black]] males), African Americans in the South began to enjoy more rights than they had ever had in the region.


==20th century==
By the 1890s, though, a political backlash against these rights developed in the South. Organizations such as the [[Ku Klux Klan]], a clandestine organization sworn to perpetuate [[white supremacy]], used [[lynchings]], [[cross burning]]s and other forms of violence and intimidation to keep African Americans from exercising their political rights, while the [[Jim Crow law]]s were created to legally do the same thing. It would not be until the late 1960s that these changes would be undone by the [[American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|American Civil Rights Movement]].
During the 20th century, civil rights of African Americans became a central issue. Before 1964, African American citizens in the South and elsewhere in the United States were treated as [[Second-class citizen|second class citizens]] with minimal political rights.


===1948: Dixiecrat revolt===
== The Solid South ==
Few Southern Democrats rejected the 1948 Democratic [[political platform]] over President [[Harry S. Truman|Harry's Truman]]'s civil rights platform.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Harvard|last=Sitkoff|title=Harry Truman and the Election of 1948: The Coming of Age of Civil Rights in American Politics|journal=Journal of Southern History|volume=37|date=November 1971|issue=4|pages=597–616|doi=10.2307/2206548|jstor=2206548}}</ref> They met at [[Birmingham, Alabama]], and formed a political party named the [[Dixiecrat|"States' Rights" Democratic Party]], more commonly known as the "[[Dixiecrats]]." Its main goal was to continue the policy of [[racial segregation]] and the [[Jim Crow laws]] that sustained it. South Carolina Governor [[Strom Thurmond]], who had led the walkout, became the party's presidential nominee. Mississippi Governor [[Fielding L. Wright]] received the vice-presidential nomination. Thurmond had a moderate position in South Carolina politics, but with his allegiance with the Dixiecrats, he became the symbol of die-hard segregation.<ref>[[Jack Bass]] and [[Marilyn W. Thompson]], ''Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond'' (2005).</ref> The Dixiecrats had no chance of winning the election since they failed to qualify for the ballots of enough states. Their strategy was to win enough Southern states to deny Truman an [[United States electoral college|electoral college]] victory and force the election into the House of Representatives, where they could then extract concessions from either Truman or his opponent [[Thomas E. Dewey|Thomas Dewey]] on racial issues in exchange for their support. Even if Dewey won the election outright, the Dixiecrats hoped that their defection would show that the Democratic Party needed Southern support to win national elections, and that this fact would weaken the Civil Rights Movement among Northern and Western Democrats. However, the Dixiecrats were weakened when most Southern Democratic leaders (such as Governor [[Herman Talmadge]] of Georgia and "Boss" [[E. H. Crump]] of Tennessee) refused to support the party.<ref>Kari Frederickson, ''The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932–1968'' (2001)</ref> In the November election, Thurmond carried the [[Deep South]] states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina.<ref name="Dixiecrats">{{Cite news|url=http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1751.html|title=Dixiecrats|access-date=2017-11-09}}</ref> Outside of these four states however, it was only listed as a third-party ticket. Thurmond would receive well over a million popular votes and 39 electoral votes.<ref name="Dixiecrats"/>
{{main|Solid South}}


===Civil Rights Movement===
'''Solid South''' refers to the electoral support of the [[Southern United States]] for Democratic Party candidates for nearly a century after the [[Reconstruction era]] (1877-1964).
{{Main|Civil Rights Movement}}
Between 1955 and 1968, a movement towards [[Desegregation in the United States|desegregation]] began to take place in the American South. [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], a [[Baptist]] minister, and the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]] were highly influential in carrying out a strategy of [[Nonviolent resistance|non-violent protests]] and demonstrations. African American churches were prominent in organizing their congregations for leadership and protest. Protesters rallied against racial laws, at events such as the [[Montgomery bus boycott]], the [[Selma to Montgomery marches]], the [[Birmingham campaign]], the [[Greensboro Four|Greensboro sit-in of 1960]], and the [[March on Washington]] in 1963.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/the-emergence-of-the-civil-rights-movement/|title=The Emergence of the Civil Rights Movement {{!}} Boundless US History|website=courses.lumenlearning.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-09}}</ref>


Legal changes came in the mid-1960s when President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] pushed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] through Congress. It ended legal segregation. He also pushed through the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], which set strict rules for protecting the right of African Americans to vote. This law has since been used to protect equal rights for all minorities as well as women.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/johnson-signs-civil-rights-act|title=Johnson signs Civil Rights Act - Jul 02, 1964 - HISTORY.com|work=HISTORY.com|access-date=2017-11-09}}</ref>
Except for 1928, when candidate [[Al Smith]], a [[Catholic]], ran on the Democratic ticket, Democratic candidates won by large margins in the South in every presidential election from 1876 until 1948 (even in 1928, the divided South provided Smith with nearly three-fourths of his electoral votes). Beginning about 1950, the national Democratic Party's support of the civil rights movement significantly reduced Southern support for the Democratic Party and allowed the Republican Party to make gains in the South by way of its "Southern strategy." Today, the South is considered a stronghold of the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].


===The South becomes majority Republican===
==Twentieth-century political movements==
For nearly a century after [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] (1865–1877), the majority of the white South identified with the Democratic Party. Republicans during this time would only control parts of the mountains districts in [[Appalachia|southern Appalachia]] and competed for statewide office in the former [[Border states (American Civil War)|border states]]. Before 1948, Southern Democrats believed that their stance on [[states' rights]] and appreciation of traditional southern values, was the defender of the southern way of life. Southern Democrats warned against designs on the part of northern liberals, Republicans (including Southern Republicans), and civil rights activists, whom they denounced as "outside agitators".{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}
During the twentieth century, the South was home to numerous political movements, including the [[Dixiecrat]] movement, the [[African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)|Civil Rights Movement]], and the "[[Republican Revolution]]" of 1994.


The adoption of the first civil rights plank by the 1948 convention and President Truman's [[Executive Order 9981]], which provided for [[Racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces|equal treatment and opportunity for African-American military service members]], divided the Democratic party's northern and southern wings.<ref>Littlejohn, Jeffrey L., and Charles H. Ford. "Truman and Civil Rights." in Daniel S. Margolies, ed. ''A Companion to Harry S. Truman'' (2012) p 287.</ref> In 1952, the Democratic Party named [[John Sparkman]], a moderate Senator from Alabama, as their vice presidential candidate with the hope of building party loyalty in the South.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/520727convention-dem-ra.html|title=Sparkman Chosen by Democrats as Running Mate for Stevenson; Senator Hails Party Solidarity|website=partners.nytimes.com|access-date=28 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1441|title=John J. Sparkman - Encyclopedia of Alabama|website=Encyclopedia of Alabama|access-date=28 August 2017}}</ref> By the late 1950s, the national Democratic Party again began to embrace the Civil Rights Movement, and the old argument that Southern whites had to vote for Democrats to protect segregation grew weaker. Modernization had brought factories, national businesses and a more diverse culture to cities such as [[Atlanta]], [[Dallas]], [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]] and [[Houston]]. This attracted millions of U.S. migrants from outside the region, including many African Americans to Southern cities. They gave priority to modernization and economic growth, over preservation of the old economic ways.<ref>Byron E. Shafer, ''The End of Southern Exceptionalism: Class, Race, and Partisan Change in the Postwar South'' (2006) ch 6</ref>
===Dixiecrat movement===
{{main|Dixiecrat}}
In 1948, a group of Democratic congressmen, led by Governor [[Strom Thurmond]] of South Carolina, split from the Democrats in reaction to an anti-segregation speech given by Senator [[Hubert Humphrey]] of Minnesota, founding the States Rights Democratic or [[Dixiecrat]] Party. During that year's Presidential election, the party unsuccessfully ran Thurmond as its candidate.


After the Civil Rights act of 1964 and The Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed in Congress, only a small element resisted, led by Democratic governors [[Lester Maddox]] of Georgia, and especially [[George Wallace]] of Alabama. These [[Populism|populist]] governors appealed to a less-educated, working-class electorate, that favored the Democratic Party, but also supported segregation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/lester-maddox-1915-2003|title=Lester Maddox (1915-2003)|website=New Georgia Encyclopedia|access-date=2017-11-09}}</ref> After the ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] case that outlawed segregation in schools in 1954, integration caused enormous controversy in the white South. For this reason, compliance was very slow and was the subject of violent resistance in some areas.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/school-segregation-and-integration/|title=School Segregation and Integration - Civil Rights History Project|work=The Library of Congress|access-date=2017-11-09|language=en}}</ref>
===The Civil Rights Movement===
{{main|American Civil Rights Movement}}


The Democratic Party no longer acted as the champion of segregation. Newly enfranchised African American voters began supporting Democratic candidates at the 80-90-percent levels, producing Democratic leaders such as [[Julian Bond]] and [[John Lewis]] of Georgia, and [[Barbara Jordan]] of Texas.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Lawson, Steven F.|title=Freedom then, freedom now: The historiography of the civil rights movement|journal=American Historical Review|date=1991|volume=96|issue=2|pages=456–471|doi=10.2307/2163219|jstor=2163219}}</ref>
Between 1955 and 1968, a movement toward [[desegregation]] gained ground in the American South. While many individuals participated in the movement's early years, dating back to the turn of the century, the movement eventually came under the leadership of [[Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.]], a [[Baptist]] minister, and the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]]. Protesters rallied against racial [[http://support.2wire.com/segregation]] laws, through such events as the [[Montgomery Bus Boycott]], the [[Selma to Montgomery marches]], and the [[Greensboro Four|Greensboro sit-in of 1960]].


Many white southerners switched to the Republican Party during the 1960s, for a variety of reasons. The majority of white southerners shared [[Conservatism|conservative]] positions on taxes, moral values, and national security. The Democratic Party had increasingly [[Liberalism in the United States|liberal]] positions rejected by these voters.<ref name="Misunderstanding"/> In addition, the younger generations, who were politically conservative but wealthier and less attached to the Democratic Party, replaced the older generations who remained loyal to the party.<ref name="Misunderstanding"/> The shift to the Republican Party took place slowly and gradually over almost a century.<ref name="Misunderstanding"/>
The movement's greatest success came when President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] of [[Texas]] signed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]], effectively ending segregation by the government. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. continued his political activism, opposing the [[Vietnam War]] and focusing his attention on [[nonviolence]] and poverty-related issues, but he was assassinated in [[Memphis, Tennessee]] in 1968. A national holiday honoring King, [[Martin Luther King, Jr. Day]], was first observed in 1986, but due to resistance in some areas it was not officially observed in all 50 states until the year 2000.


==Late 20th century into 21st century==
Other prominent figures in the American Civil Rights movement included [[Rosa Parks]], [[Julius Rosenwald]], [[W.E.B. Dubois]], [[Ralph Abernathy]], and [[Malcolm X]].
By the 1990s Republicans were starting to win elections at the statewide and local level throughout the South, even though Democrats retained majorities in several state legislatures through the 2000s and 2010s.<ref name="Misunderstanding">{{cite web |last1=Trende |first1=Sean |title=Misunderstanding the Southern Realignment |url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/09/09/misunderstanding_the_southern_realignment_107084.html |date=September 9, 2010 |publisher=[[RealClearPolitics]] |access-date=January 15, 2017}}</ref><ref name="Plight">{{cite web |last1=Hamby |first1=Peter |title=The plight of the Southern Democrat |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/03/politics/southern-democrats/ |date=December 9, 2014 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=January 15, 2017}}</ref> By 2014, the region was heavily Republican at the local, state and national level.<ref name="Plight"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohn |first1=Nate |title=Demise of the Southern Democrat Is Now Nearly Complete |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/upshot/demise-of-the-southern-democrat-is-now-nearly-compete.html?_r=1 |date=December 4, 2014 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 15, 2017}}</ref> A key element in the change was the transformation of [[evangelical]] white Protestants in the south from largely nonpolitical to heavily Republican. [[Pew Research Center|Pew pollsters]] reported, "In the late 1980s, white evangelicals in the South were still mostly wedded to the Democratic Party while evangelicals outside the South were more aligned with the GOP. But over the course of the next decade or so, the GOP made gains among white Southerners generally and evangelicals in particular, virtually eliminating this regional disparity."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.people-press.org/2004/12/06/religion-and-the-presidential-vote/ |title=Religion and the Presidential Vote &#124; Pew Research Center |website=People-press.org |date=6 December 2004 |access-date=2016-03-09}}</ref> Exit polls in the [[2004 United States presidential election|2004 presidential election]] showed that Republican [[George W. Bush]] led Democrat [[John Kerry]] by 70–30% among Southern whites, who comprised 71% of the voters there. By contrast, Kerry had a 90–9 lead among the 18% of African American Southern voters. One-third of the Southern voters said they were white evangelicals; they voted for Bush by 80–20.<ref>{{cite news |title=Exit Polls |publisher=CNN |url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.3.html |date=2004-11-02|access-date=2006-11-18}}</ref>


=== 2016 - Present ===
===George Wallace and the Southern strategy===
After the [[2016 United States elections|2016 elections]], nearly every state legislature in the South was GOP-controlled.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Loftus |first1=Tom |title=GOP takes Ky House in historic shift |url=http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/elections/kentucky/2016/11/08/control-kentucky-house-up-grabs/93344114/ |date=November 9, 2016 |website=courier-journal.com |access-date=November 9, 2016}}</ref> Republican nominee for President [[Donald Trump]] notably won [[Elliott County, KY]], becoming the first Republican presidential nominee to ever win that county.<ref name="EndedStreak">{{cite web |last1=Simon |first1=Jeff |title=How Trump Ended Democrats' 144-Year Winning Streak in One County |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/politics/elliott-county-kentucky-democratic-streak-broken-by-donald-trump/index.html |date=December 9, 2016 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=January 15, 2017}}</ref> Following the [[2019 Virginia elections|2019 elections]], Democrats won control of Virginia's [[Virginia House of Delegates|House of Delegates]] and [[Virginia Senate|State Senate]], thus giving them trifecta over the state government for the first time since the 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Joel |title=Virginia becomes Democratic trifecta as legislators are sworn in – Ballotpedia News |date=9 January 2020 |url=https://news.ballotpedia.org/2020/01/09/virginia-becomes-democratic-trifecta-as-legislators-are-sworn-in/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |language=en-US}}</ref> However, in 2021, Virginians would elect [[Glenn Youngkin]] as Governor and Republicans would retake control of the House of Delegates with a 52–48 majority.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-11-03 |title=Republican Glenn Youngkin wins election for governor in Virginia |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/republican-glenn-youngkin-wins-election-for-governor-in-virginia |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}</ref> During the early 2020s, Georgia began to see itself become electorally competitive for Republicans again as [[Joe Biden]] won the state in [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 election]]. Furthermore, Georgia would elect Democrats [[Jon Ossoff]] and [[Raphael Warnock]] as their Senators in concurrent [[2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia|regularly scheduled]] and [[2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia|special]] elections, respectively.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Stuart |first=Tessa |date=2021-01-06 |title=Warnock Makes History and Democrats Gain Senate Majority |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/georgia-runoff-results-1109665/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> Warnock would be elected to a full term in [[2022 United States Senate election in Georgia|2022]] even as Republicans swept all statewide races and retained control of the state legislature.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Georgia Election Results 2022: Live Map {{!}} Midterm Races by County & District |url=https://www.politico.com/2022-election/results/georgia/ |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=www.politico.com |language=en}}</ref>
{{main|Southern strategy}}
In 1968, Democratic Alabama Governor [[George C. Wallace]] ran for President on the [[American Independent Party]] ticket. Wallace ran a "law and order" campaign similar to that of Republican candidate, [[Richard Nixon]]. While Nixon won, Wallace won a number of Southern states. This inspired Nixon and other Republican leaders to create the [[Southern Strategy]] of winning Presidential elections. This strategy focused on securing the electoral votes of the U.S. Southern states by having candidates promote culturally conservative values, such as family issues, religion, and [[patriotism]], which appealed strongly to Southern voters.


=== Connections between education and politics ===
===Jimmy Carter, the 1976 Presidential election, and the rise of the Religious Right===
Research studies in American political affiliations demonstrate that an "uneducated"''(lack of post-secondary school)'' white populace tends to vote Republican.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Bradley |date=2018-03-20 |title=1. Trends in party affiliation among demographic groups |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2018/03/20/1-trends-in-party-affiliation-among-demographic-groups/ |access-date=2022-11-18 |website=Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy |language=en-US}}</ref> Looking at the racial composition through the 2022 census<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bureau |first=US Census |title=The Chance That Two People Chosen at Random Are of Different Race or Ethnicity Groups Has Increased Since 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/2020-united-states-population-more-racially-ethnically-diverse-than-2010.html |access-date=2022-11-18 |website=Census.gov}}</ref> demonstrates that the most prevalent race in the south are whites. Using these pieces of information, the tendency for the south to vote Republican could be further be explained as a lack of education in this region of the United States, as there are several majority-white states outside of the Deep South that tend to vote Democratic (''[[Red states and blue states]]'').


==Recent trends==
In the [[United States presidential election, 1976|1976 election]], former [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] governor [[Jimmy Carter]] won the Democratic nomination for [[President of the United States]]. Carter, a [[pro-life]] [[Southern Baptist]] [[Sunday school]] teacher and peanut farmer, became the only Democratic president to date to reverse the [[Southern Strategy]], defeating [[George Wallace]] in the Democratic primary and carrying every Southern state in the general election, with the exceptions of [[Virginia]] and [[Oklahoma]]. Carter ran a culturally Southern, populist campaign, which saw the people of his hometown of [[Plains, Georgia]] holding fundraisers with "covered-dish" dinners and its residents traveling north to campaign by train on the "Peanut Express."<ref http://www.plainsgeorgia.com/plains_to_the_white_house.html>"Plains to the White House," 1976.</ref> Republican incumbent [[Gerald Ford]] had only narrowly defeated [[Ronald Reagan|Ronald Reagan's]] [[Republican Party (United States) presidential primaries, 1976|conservative intra-party coup]] to secure his party's nomination, and, as a moderate Republican who generally kept his religious views to himself, was unable to endear himself to [[Bible Belt]] voters. Carter's victory was significant in that he was among the only U.S. Presidents to have claimed to be a [[born again]] Christian.


===LGBTQ rights===
By 1980 Carter's approval ratings plummeted due a poor economy and the [[Iran hostage crisis]]. In addition, Carter had energized Southern [[evangelicals]] in his 1976 campaign, as perhaps the first "[[born again]]" president, but a backlash among some white conservative evangelicals led to the formation of the [[Christian right|Religious right]], which split the Southern evangelical vote and denied Carter a victory in many states. [[Ronald Reagan]] won the [[United States presidential election, 1980|1980 presidential election]] in a landslide; Carter retained majorities in [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[West Virginia]], [[Maryland]], and the [[District of Columbia]], becoming the last Democratic candidate to perform better in the South than nationally.
{{Further|Same-sex marriage in the United States|LGBT rights in the United States}}
In September 2004, [[Louisiana Constitutional Amendment 1|Louisiana]] became the first state to adopt a [[U.S. state constitutional amendments banning same-sex unions|constitutional ban on same-sex marriage]] in the South. This was followed by [[Arkansas Constitutional Amendment 3|Arkansas]], [[Georgia Constitutional Amendment 1|Georgia]], [[Kentucky Constitutional Amendment 1|Kentucky]], [[Mississippi Amendment 1|Mississippi]], and [[Oklahoma Question 711|Oklahoma]] in November 2004; [[Texas Proposition 2 (2005)|Texas]] in 2005; [[Alabama Amendment 774|Alabama]], [[South Carolina Amendment 1|South Carolina]], [[Tennessee Marriage Protection Amendment|Tennessee]], and [[Marshall-Newman Amendment|Virginia]] in 2006; [[2008 Florida Amendment 2|Florida]] in 2008; and finally [[North Carolina Amendment 1|North Carolina]] in 2012. North Carolina became the 30th state to adopt a state constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://jayongeorge.com/2014/11/25/progression-of-same-sex-marriage-in-the-united-states-and-worldwide/|title=Progression of same-sex Marriage in the United States and Worldwide|date=2014-11-25|access-date=2017-11-09|language=en-US}}</ref> This ended with [[Obergefell v. Hodges]] Supreme Court case, which ruled in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide on June 26, 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/06/24/same-sex-marriage-timeline/29173703/|title=Timeline: Same-sex marriage through the years|work=USA TODAY|access-date=2017-11-09|language=en}}</ref> Virginia removed its [[Same-sex marriage in Virginia#statues|laws banning same-sex marriage]] in 2020, but the constitutional amendment banning it is still in place, although not currently enforceable also due to the 2022 [[Respect for Marriage Act]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-16 |title=Respect for Marriage Act resonates in Virginia |url=https://www.vpm.org/news/2022-12-16/respect-for-marriage-act-resonates-in-virginia |access-date=2023-02-01 |website=VPM |language=en}}</ref> Republican-majority legislatures in Florida, Tennessee and Texas pushed for increased restrictions on transgender rights and gender-nonconforming expression in the 2020s.


===Politics===
Since leaving office in 1981, however, Carter has continued to have a significant influence among Southern evangelicals. He has continued the practice of [[evangelism]], (his sister [[Ruth Carter Stapleton]] was an evangelist until her death in 1983) teaching Sunday school to the tourists who visit his hometown. He is also credited with using his national recognition to boost the success of the [[Christian]] non-profit ministry [[Habitat for Humanity]], beyond its original sphere of influence in [[Sumter County, Georgia]]. Habitat for Humanity has housed 1,000,000 people to date, and continues to host the "Jimmy Carter work project" each year. Finally, Carter has written numerous books on the subject of religious faith.


While the general trend in the South has shown an increasing dominance of the Republican party since the 1960s, Southern politics in the 21st century are still contentious and competitive.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/united-states/2010/11/11/the-long-goodbye|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=2018-11-10|title=The Long Goodbye}}</ref> States such as [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], [[Virginia]] and [[North Carolina]] are [[swing states]]. Georgia has [[Governor of Georgia|a Republican governor]] and 2 Democratic U.S. Senators, Virginia has [[Governor of Virginia|a Republican governor]] and 2 Democratic U.S. Senators, and North Carolina has [[Governor of North Carolina|a Democratic Governor]] and 2 Republican U.S. Senators. Most Southern state legislatures, however, have been governed with Republican supermajorities in both houses at least once since 2000.
For many years, Carter attempted to find a solution between moderate and conservative factions of the [[Southern Baptist Convention]], but in 2000 he left to join the [[Cooperative Baptist Fellowship]]. Reasons cited for his decision included a 1998 ban on the [[ordination]] of women as ministers, and "the elimination of language in June that identifies Jesus Christ as "the criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted" in the [[Baptist Faith and Message]].<ref http://www.adherents.com/largecom/baptist_SBC_Carter.html>"Jimmy Carter Renounces Southern Baptist Convention," reprinted at Beliefnet.com</ref>


All the former [[Confederate States of America|Confederate Southern states]] supported [[Donald Trump]] in the 2016 Republican presidential primary except Texas (won by native son [[Ted Cruz]]). Trump won every former [[Confederate States of America|Confederate State]] except Virginia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/02/28/donald-trump-super-tuesday-south/81069984/|title=Why the South likes Donald Trump|work=USA TODAY|access-date=2017-11-09|language=en}}</ref>
===The Contract with America===
In 1994, [[Pennsylvania]]-born Georgia Congressman [[Newt Gingrich]] ushered in a "Republican revolution" with his [[Contract with America]]. Gingrich, then the Minority Whip of the [[U.S. House of Representatives|House]], created the document to detail what the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] would do if they won the that year's United States Congressional election. The contract detailed several proposed aspects of governmental reform. Nearly all of the Republican candidates in the election signed the contract, and for the first time in 40 years the Republicans took control of the Congress. Gingrich became [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]], serving in that position from 1995 to 1999.


Most Southern states, since the earlier 20th century, adopted absolute majority requirements in Democratic "[[white primary]]" elections for state and local offices, largely to undermine challengers from among both moderates as well as those further to the right, such as members of the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. Some states, like Georgia and Mississippi, also adopted tighter thresholds, with Georgia adopting a [[County unit system]] for their Democratic primary and Mississippi adopting a requirement that general election candidates win with a majority of state house districts. Several court cases throughout the 20th and even the 21st centuries have challenged these laws. Several changes in the laws have also, from Louisiana's adoption of the [[Nonpartisan blanket primary]] (in the form of the [[Louisiana primary]]) to Florida's abolition of the 50% requirement in primary and general elections. However, Georgia (from 1964 to 1994 and since 2005) and Mississippi (since 2020) remain the two states which require absolute majorities in both primaries and general elections.
Republicans maintained control of Congress from January 1995 until January 2007, with two exceptions. After the 2000 elections, a 50-50 split in the Senate temporarily resulted in a Senate presidency by Tennessee's [[Al Gore]] in January 2001. (In the event of a tie, party control is decided by the Vice-President's tie-breaking vote.) In May 2001, Republican senator [[James Jeffords]] left his party to become an independent, giving the Democrats a 50-49 majority in the Senate until early 2003. During this period, a number of current Congressional leaders were also from the South, including former Senate Majority Leader [[Bill Frist]] of Tennessee, former Senate Minority Leader [[Mitch McConnell]] of Kentucky, and Former House Majority Leader [[Tom DeLay]] of Texas.


{| class="wikitable note: Louisiana now has a Democratic Governor, and should be coded as pink" style="text-align:center"
==Twenty-first century==
|-
===2006 elections and return to Democratic control===
! colspan="25" | Politics in the Southern United States, 2001–present
|-
! !! !! colspan="23" | Year
|-
! State !! Elected office !! 2001 !! 2002 !! 2003 !! 2004 !! 2005 !! 2006 !! 2007 !! 2008 !! 2009 !! 2010 !! 2011 !! 2012 !! 2013 !! 2014 !! 2015 !! 2016 !! 2017 !! 2018 !! 2019 !! 2020 !! 2021 !! 2022 !! 2023
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Alabama]] || [[Elections in Alabama#Presidential elections|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Alabama|U.S. senators]] || colspan="17" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R || colspan="3" style="background:thistle;"| D, R || colspan="3" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R
|-
| [[Alabama's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Alabama|Governor]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="21" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[Alabama Senate|Senate]] || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="9" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| [[Alabama House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Arkansas]] || [[Political party strength in Arkansas|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Arkansas|U.S. senators]] || colspan="2" style="background:thistle;"| D, R || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 2 D || colspan="4" style="background:thistle;"| D, R || colspan="9" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R
|-
| [[Arkansas's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Arkansas|Governor]] || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D|| colspan="9" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[Arkansas Senate|Senate]] || colspan="12" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="9" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| [[Arkansas House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="12" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Delaware]] || [[Political party strength in Delaware|President]] || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| [[Al Gore]] (D) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| [[John Kerry]] (D) || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama]] (D) || colspan="3" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| [[Hillary Clinton]] (D) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| [[Joe Biden]] (D)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Delaware|U.S. senators]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 2 D
|-
| [[Delaware's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="11" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="12" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Delaware|Governor]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D
|-
| [[Delaware Senate|Senate]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority
|-
| [[Delaware House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="15" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Florida]] || [[Political party strength in Florida|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama]] (D) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Florida|U.S. senators]] || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 2 D || colspan="14" style="background:thistle;"| D, R || colspan="5" {{Party shading/Republican}} | 2R
|-
| [[Florida's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Florida|Governor]] || colspan="9" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || {{Party shading/Independent}}| I || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[Florida Senate|Senate]] || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="1" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| [[Florida House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="1" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] || [[Political party strength in Georgia (U.S. state)|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="3" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| [[Joe Biden]] (D)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Georgia|U.S. senators]] || colspan="4" style="background:thistle;"| D, R || colspan="16" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R || colspan="3" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 2 D
|-
| [[Georgia's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Georgia|Governor]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="21" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[Georgia Senate|Senate]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority || colspan="5" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority ||
|-
| [[Georgia House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="19" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Kentucky]] || [[Political party strength in Kentucky|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Kentucky|U.S. senators]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R
|-
| [[Kentucky's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Kentucky|Governor]] || colspan="3" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|D
|-
| [[Kentucky Senate|Senate]] || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}} | R majority || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Republican}} | R supermajority
|-
| [[Kentucky House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="15" {{Party shading/Democratic}} | D majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}} | R majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}} | R supermajority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Louisiana]] || [[Political party strength in Louisiana|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Louisiana|U.S. senators]] || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 2 D || colspan="10" style="background:thistle;"| D, R || colspan="9" {{Party shading/Republican}} | 2R
|-
| [[Louisiana's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Louisiana|Governor]] || colspan="3" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D
|-
| [[Louisiana Senate|Senate]] || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="9" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| [[Louisiana House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Maryland]] || [[Political party strength in Maryland|President]] || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Al Gore]] (D) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[John Kerry]] (D) || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama]] (D) || colspan="3" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| [[Hillary Clinton]] (D) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| [[Joe Biden]] (D)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Maryland|U.S. senators]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 2 D
|-
| [[Maryland's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="12" style="background:thistle;"| 4 D, 4 R || colspan="11" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Maryland|Governor]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="1" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D
|-
| [[Maryland Senate|Senate]] || colspan="1" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="22" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D supermajority
|-
| [[Maryland House of Delegates|House of Delegates]] || colspan="14" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D supermajority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="5" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D supermajority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Mississippi]] || [[Political party strength in Mississippi|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Mississippi|U.S. senators]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R
|-
| [[Mississippi's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="5" style="background:thistle;"| 2 D, 2 R || colspan="3" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Mississippi|Governor]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="21" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[Mississippi Senate|Senate]] || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="3" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[Mississippi House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[North Carolina]] || [[Political party strength in North Carolina|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama]] (D) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from North Carolina|U.S. senators]] || colspan="4" style="background:thistle;"| D, R || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R || colspan="6" style="background:thistle;"| D, R || colspan="9" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R
|-
| [[North Carolina's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of North Carolina|Governor]] || colspan="12" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D
|-
| [[North Carolina Senate|Senate]] || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority || colspan="5" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[North Carolina House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="2" style="background:thistle;"| 60 D, 60 R || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority || colspan="5" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Oklahoma]] || [[Political party strength in Oklahoma|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Oklahoma|U.S. senators]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R
|-
| [[Oklahoma's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Oklahoma|Governor]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[Oklahoma Senate|Senate]] || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="2" style="background:thistle;"| 24 D, 24 R || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| [[Oklahoma House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[South Carolina]] || [[Political party strength in South Carolina|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from South Carolina|U.S. senators]] || colspan="4" style="background:thistle;"| D, R || colspan="19" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R
|-
| [[South Carolina's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of South Carolina|Governor]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="21" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[South Carolina Senate|Senate]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[South Carolina House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="22" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="1" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Tennessee]] || [[Political party strength in Tennessee|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Tennessee|U.S. senators]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R
|-
| [[Tennessee's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Tennessee|Governor]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[Tennessee Senate|Senate]] || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="2" style="background:thistle;"| 16 R, 16 D, 1 I || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="11" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| [[Tennessee House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || style="background:thistle;"| 49 R, 49 D, 1 CCR || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="11" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Texas]] || [[Political party strength in Tennessee|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Texas|U.S. senators]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R
|-
| [[Texas's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="19" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Texas|Governor]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[Texas Senate|Senate]] || colspan="23" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[Texas House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority || colspan="11" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[Virginia]] || [[Political party strength in Virginia|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Barack Obama]] (D) || colspan="3" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| [[Hillary Clinton]] (D) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| [[Joe Biden]] (D)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from Virginia|U.S. senators]] || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Republican}}| 2 R || colspan="2" style="background:thistle;"| D, R || colspan="15" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 2 D
|-
| [[Virginia's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="5" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority
|-
| [[List of governors of Virginia|Governor]] || {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[Virginia Senate|Senate]] || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority
|-
| [[Virginia House of Delegates|House of Delegates]] || colspan="11" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="6" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| rowspan=6| [[West Virginia]] || [[Political party strength in West Virginia|President]] || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[George W. Bush]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[John McCain]] (R) || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Mitt Romney]] (R) || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| [[Donald Trump]] (R)
|-
| [[List of United States senators from West Virginia|U.S. senators]] || colspan="14" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 2 D || colspan="9" style="background:thistle;"| D, R
|-
| [[West Virginia's congressional districts|Congressional districts]] || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="13" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority
|-
| [[List of governors of West Virginia|Governor]] || colspan="16" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D || colspan="7" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R
|-
| [[West Virginia Senate|Senate]] || colspan="10" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D supermajority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="5" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|-
| [[West Virginia House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D supermajority || colspan="8" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D supermajority || colspan="2" {{Party shading/Democratic}}| D majority || colspan="5" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R majority || colspan="4" {{Party shading/Republican}}| R supermajority
|}


{|class="wikitable sortable collapsible"
In the early 21st century, Republicans were able to maintain their hold on the federal government, as President [[George W. Bush]] was able to forge a powerful coalition of Southern states that had been out of reach of the Republican party in the last two Presidential contests. In particular, Bush's increased popularity following the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] enabled him to aid in the defeat of most Southern Democratic Senators in 2002 and 2004. On [[November 7]], [[2006]], however, the Democratic Party once again regained control of the House and Senate, as well as control of the [[Southern Governors' Association]]. The election was the first since the South was struck by [[Hurricane Katrina]], and voters named "government corruption" and the state of the then-current war in [[Iraq]] as influences on their decisions. The election was the first since 1948 that Republicans did not win a single Democratic seat. (See [[United States House of Representatives elections, 2006]].)
|+style="font-size:100%" | Political views and affiliations in the South in 2016
|-
! Political views and affiliations
! colspan="2"|% living in the South
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:15px;"| Hard-Pressed [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]]<ref name="Beyond Red vs Blue">{{cite web|url=http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/Beyond-Red-vs-Blue-The-Political-Typology.pdf |title=Beyond Red vs. Blue : Political Typology |website=People-press.org |access-date=2016-03-09}}</ref>
|align=right| {{bartable|48||2||background:grey}}
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:15px;"| [[Unrest|Disaffected]]<ref name="Beyond Red vs Blue" />
|align=right| {{bartable|41||2||background:grey}}
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:15px;"| Bystander<ref name="Beyond Red vs Blue" />
|align=right| {{bartable|40||2||background:grey}}
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:15px;"| [[Republican Main Street Partnership|Main Street]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]]<ref name="Beyond Red vs Blue" />
|align=right| {{bartable|40||2||background:grey}}
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:15px;"| [[New Democrat Coalition|New Coalition]] [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]]<ref name="Beyond Red vs Blue" />
|align=right| {{bartable|40||2||background:grey}}
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:15px;"| Staunch [[Conservatism in the United States|Conservative]]<ref name="Beyond Red vs Blue" />
|align=right| {{bartable|38||2||background:pink}}
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:15px;"| [[Postmodernism|Post-Modern]]<ref name="Beyond Red vs Blue" />
|align=right| {{bartable|31||2||background:pink}}
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:15px;"| [[Libertarianism in the United States|Libertarian]]<ref name="Beyond Red vs Blue" />
|align=right| {{bartable|28||2||background:red}}
|-
| style="text-align:left; text-indent:15px;"| Solid [[Liberalism in the United States|Liberal]]<ref name="Beyond Red vs Blue" />
|align=right| {{bartable|26||2||background:red}}
|}


==See also==
Prior to the election, two government scandals involving Congressional Republicans fueled a public backlash. The first was the [[Abramoff scandal]], in which lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others presented bribes to legislators on behalf of [[Indian casino]] gambling interests. In the South, the scandal had the effect of ending [[Ralph Reed]]'s political career, when he lost the primary election for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. The scandal also ended the career of House Majority Leader [[Tom Delay]] of [[Texas]].
* [[Elections in the Southern United States]]
* [[Politics of the United States]]
* [[Blue Dog Democrats]]
* [[Boll weevil (politics)]]
* [[Conservative Democrat]]
* [[Southern Democrat]]
* [[Deep South]]
* [[Upland South]]
* [[History of the Southern United States]]
* [[History of the United States Republican Party]]
* [[History of the United States Democratic Party]]
* [[Political culture of the United States]]
* [[Southern Agrarians]]
* [[Southernization (US)|Southernization]]
* [[Southern strategy]]


==References==
In 2005, a Texas grand jury indicted DeLay on criminal charges that he had conspired to violate campaign finance laws during that period. DeLay denied the charges, saying that they were politically motivated, but Republican Conference rules forced him to resign temporarily from his position as Majority Leader. In January 2006, under pressure from fellow Republicans, DeLay announced that he would not seek to return to the position. In the months before and after this decision, two of his former aides were convicted in the Jack Abramoff scandal. DeLay ran for re-election in 2006, and won the Republican primary election in March 2006, but, citing the possibility of losing the general election, he announced in April 2006 that he would withdraw from the race and resign his seat in Congress. He resigned on June 9, 2006, and sought to remove his name from the ballot. The court battle that followed forced him to remain on the ballot, despite having withdrawn from the race. Democrat [[Nick Lampson]] ultimately won DeLay's House seat in [[TX-22]].
{{Reflist|30em}}


==Bibliography==
A second scandal, commonly known as the [[Mark Foley scandal]], involved [[Florida]] Congressman [[Mark Foley]]'s transmission of sexually explicit messages to underage [[United states house of representatives page|Congressional pages]]. Foley resigned, but his name remained on the ballot, and Democrat [[Tim Mahoney]] won the general election.
* [https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11282.html Avidit Acharya, Matthew Blackwell & Maya Sen. 2018. Deep Roots: How Slavery Still Shapes Southern Politics. Princeton University Press.]
* Bartley, Numan V. ''The New South, 1945-1980'' (1995), broad survey
*[https://press.princeton.edu/titles/11340.html David A. Bateman, Ira Katznelson & John S. Lapinski. 2018. Southern Nation: Congress and White Supremacy after Reconstruction. Princeton University Press.]
*Billington, Monroe Lee. ''The Political South in the 20th Century'' (Scribner, 1975). {{ISBN|0-684-13983-9}}.
* Black, Earl, and Merle Black. ''Politics and Society in the South'' (1989) [https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Society-South-Earl-Black/dp/0674689593/ excerpt and text search]
* Bullock III, Charles S. and Mark J. Rozell, eds. ''The New Politics of the Old South: An Introduction to Southern Politics'' (2007) state-by-state coverage [https://www.amazon.com/The-New-Politics-Old-South/dp/0742570215/ excerpt and text search]
* Cunningham, Sean P. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=z6E5cT-7tWsC&q=%22Cowboy+Conservatism%3A+Texas+and+the+Rise+of+the+Modern+Right%22 Cowboy Conservatism: Texas and the Rise of the Modern Right].'' (2010).
* Grantham. Dewey. ''The Democratic South'' (1965)
* Guillory, Ferrel, "[https://books.google.com/books?id=_iLyBquVRrEC&q=%22The+South+in+Red+and+Purple%3A+Southernized+Republicans%2C+Diverse+Democrats%22 The South in Red and Purple: Southernized Republicans, Diverse Democrats]," ''Southern Cultures,'' 18 (Fall 2012), 6–24.
* Kazin, Michael. ''What It Took to Win: A History of the Democratic Party'' (2022)[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374200238/ excerpt]
* Key, V. O. and Alexander Heard. '' Southern Politics in State and Nation'' (1949), a famous classic
* Perman, Michael. ''Pursuit of Unity: A Political History of the American South'' (2009)
* Shafer, Byron E., and Richard Johnston. ''The End of Southern Exceptionalism: Class, Race, and Partisan Change in the Postwar South'' (2009) [https://www.amazon.com/End-Southern-Exceptionalism-Partisan-Postwar/dp/0674032497/ excerpt and text search]
* Steed, Robert P. and Laurence W. Moreland, eds. ''Writing Southern Politics: Contemporary Interpretations and Future Directions'' (2006); historiography & scholarly essays [https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Southern-Politics-Contemporary-Interpretations/dp/0813123828/ excerpts & text search]
* Tindall, George Brown. ''The Emergence of the New South, 1913-1945'' (1967), influential survey
* Twyman, Robert W. and David C. Roller, ed. ''Encyclopedia of Southern History'' (LSU Press, 1979) {{ISBN|0-8071-0575-9}}.
* Woodard, J. David. ''The New Southern Politics'' (2006) 445pp
* Woodward, C. Vann. ''The Origins of the New South, 1877-1913'' (1951), a famous classic


{{Authority control}}
The scandal led to Foley's resignation from Congress on September 29, 2006. It is believed to have contributed to the Republican Party's loss of control over Congress in the November 7, 2006 election, as well as the end of House Speaker [[Dennis Hastert]]'s leadership of the House Republicans. [[Kirk Fordham]], chief of staff to Rep. [[Tom Reynolds]] and former chief of staff for Foley, also resigned as a result of the scandal. (See [[Mark Foley scandal]].

====Senate====

In the Senate, Democrats defeated six Republican incumbents in order to gain control of the Senate. The close contest that determined the final outcome of Senate control was Democrat [[Jim Webb]]'s unlikely victory against incumbent [[Virginia]] Senator (and former Governor) [[George Allen]]. Allen 's poll numbers had plummeted after a video was released of Allen shouting at an [[Indian-American]] student, using what were interpreted as racially charged remarks. (See [[Macaca (slur)]].) In [[Missouri]], [[Claire McCaskill]] defeated incumbent Senator [[Jim Talent]].

====House of Representatives====

* In [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], Republicans concentrated on two districts as their best hopes of gaining Democratic seats, those of [[Jim Marshall]] and [[John Barrow (U.S. politician)|John Barrow]]. They were not successful in this regard, even though the seats were closely contested.

* In [[Texas]], both the [[TX-22|twenty-second]] and [[TX-23|twenty-third]] districts switched to Democratic control.

* In [[Florida]], both the [[FL-16|sixteenth]] and [[FL-22|twenty-second]] districts were lost to Democrats.

* In North Carolina's [[North Carolina's 11th congressional district|eleventh]] House district, [[Heath Shuler]] defeated incumbent [[Charles Taylor]].

====Changing Congressional leadership====

While Republicans lost key Congressional leadership positions following the 2006 elections, new Democratic leaders emerged from below the [[Mason-Dixon Line]].

=====United States House of Representatives=====

* [[Steny Hoyer]] of [[Maryland]] was elected as the new House Majority leader.

* [[Jim Clyburn]] of [[South Carolina]] became the third-ranking [[House Majority Whip]], the first [[South Carolina]] native to hold the position, while South Carolinian [[John Spratt]] became chairman of the [[House Budget Committee]].

* [[Ike Skelton]] of [[Missouri]] became the chairman of the [[House Armed Services Committee]].

* [[Bennie Thompson]] of [[Mississippi]] became chairman of the [[United States House Committee on Homeland Security]].

* [[Nick Rahall]] of [[West Virginia]] chaired the [[United States House Committee on Natural Resources]].

* [[Bart Gordon]] of [[Tennessee]] led the [[United States House Committee on Science and Technology]].

* The [[House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]] was chaired by [[Silvestre Reyes]] of [[Texas]].

=====United States Senate=====

* Following his re-election in 2006, [[Robert Byrd]] of West Virginia became chairman of the [[Senate Appropriations Committee]] and [[President pro tempore of the United States Senate]], placing him third in line in Presidential succession.

* [[John D. Rockefeller]], also of West Virginia, chaired the [[Senate Intelligence Committee]].

====Democratic Control of Governorships====

In the [[United States gubernatorial elections, 2006|2006 gubernatorial elections]], [[Mike Beebe]] of [[Arkansas]] regained the governorship previously held by Republican [[Mike Huckabee]]. In [[Maryland]], [[Martin O'Malley]] defeated incumbent Republican governor [[Robert Erlich]]. In 2007, Kentucky Democrat Steve Beshear defeated incumbent Republican governor Ernie Fletcher. These victories gave the Democratic Party a decisive 10-8 majority in the [[Southern Governors' Association]]. [[Joe Manchin]] of West Virginia subsequently became chairman of the association, while [[Tim Kaine]] of Virginia became Vice-Chairman.

==Southern Presidents==

The South has long been a center of political power in the United States, especially in regard to Presidential elections. During the [[history of the United States]], the South has supplied many of the 43 [[Presidents of the United States|presidents]]. [[Virginia]] specifically was the birthplace of seven of the nation's first twelve presidents (including four of the first five).

Presidents from the South include:

*[[George Washington]] of Virginia (term 1789 - 1797).
*[[Thomas Jefferson]] of Virginia (term 1801 - 1809).
*[[James Madison]] of Virginia (term 1809 - 1817).
*[[James Monroe]] of Virginia (term 1817 - 1825).
*[[Andrew Jackson]] of [[Waxhaws]] (term (1829 - 1837).
*[[William Henry Harrison]] of Virginia (term 1841).
*[[John Tyler]] of Virginia (term 1841 - 1845).
*[[James Knox Polk]] of Tennessee (term (1845 - 1849).
*[[Zachary Taylor]] of Virginia (term 1849 - 1850).
*[[Andrew Johnson]] of [[North Carolina]] (term 1865 - 1869).
*[[Woodrow Wilson]] of Virginia (term 1913 - 1921). Note: While Wilson was from Virginia, he spent his adult and political life in [[New Jersey]]
*[[Lyndon Baines Johnson]] of Texas (term 1963 - 1969).
*[[Jimmy Carter]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] (term 1977 - 1981).
*[[Bill Clinton]] of [[Arkansas]] (term 1993 - 2001).

This list encompasses members of the [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]], and the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. To date, no President from the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] has been "born and raised" in the Southern United States, although Presidents [[Abraham Lincoln]], [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], [[George H. W. Bush]], and [[George W. Bush]] have spent a great deal of time and/or built political bases in the region.

==See also==
*[[Politics of the United States]]
*[[Blue Dog Democrats]]
*[[Boll weevil (politics)]]
*[[Conservative Democrat]]
*[[Southern Democrat]]
*[[George Wallace]]
*[[Southern United States]]
*[[Deep South]]
*[[History of the Southern United States]]
*[[History of the United States Republican Party]]
*[[History of the United States Democratic Party]]
*[[Southern Agrarians]]

==References==
<references />


[[Category:Southern United States]]
[[Category:Politics of the Southern United States| ]]
[[Category:Politics of the United States]]

Latest revision as of 16:26, 19 April 2024

The Southern United States as defined by the United States Census Bureau.[1] The "South" and its regions are defined in various ways, however.

The politics of the Southern United States generally refers to the political landscape of the Southern United States. The institution of slavery had a profound impact on the politics of the Southern United States, causing the American Civil War and continued subjugation of African-Americans from the Reconstruction era to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Scholars have linked slavery to contemporary political attitudes, including racial resentment.[2] From the Reconstruction era to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, pockets of the Southern United States were characterized as being "authoritarian enclaves".[3][4][5][6]

The region was once referred to as the Solid South, due to its large consistent support for Democrats in all elective offices from 1877 to 1964. As a result, its Congressmen gained seniority across many terms, thus enabling them to control many congressional committees. Following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, Southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while Northeastern states became more reliably Democratic.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Studies show that some Southern whites during the 1960s shifted to the Republican Party, in part due to racial conservatism.[13][15][16] Majority support for the Democratic Party amongst Southern whites first fell away at the presidential level, and several decades later at the state and local levels.[17] Both parties are competitive in a handful of Southern states, known as swing states.

Southern states[edit]

Further information: Southern United States § Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the following states are considered part of the South:

Other definitions vary. For example, Missouri is often considered a border or Midwestern state, although many Ozark Missourians claim Missouri as a Southern state.[18]

Post-Civil War through 19th century[edit]

At the end of the Civil War, the South entered the Reconstruction era (1865–1877). The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 and 1868 placed most of the Confederate states under military rule (except Tennessee), which required Union Army governors to approve appointed officials and candidates for election. They enfranchised African American citizens and required voters to recite an oath of allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, effectively discouraging still-rebellious individuals from voting, and led to Republican control of many state governments.[19] This was interpreted as anarchy and upheaval by many residents.[20] However, Democrats would regain power in most Southern states by the late 1870s. Later, this period came to be referred to as Redemption. From 1890–1908 states of the former Confederacy passed statutes and amendments to their state constitutions, that effectively disenfranchised African Americans from voting, as well as some poor whites. They did this through devices such as poll taxes and literacy tests.[21]

In the 1890s the South split bitterly, with poor cotton farmers moving to the Populist movement. In coalition with the remaining Republicans, the Populists briefly controlled Alabama and North Carolina. The local elites, townspeople, and landowners fought back, regaining control of the Democratic party by 1898.

20th century[edit]

During the 20th century, civil rights of African Americans became a central issue. Before 1964, African American citizens in the South and elsewhere in the United States were treated as second class citizens with minimal political rights.

1948: Dixiecrat revolt[edit]

Few Southern Democrats rejected the 1948 Democratic political platform over President Harry's Truman's civil rights platform.[22] They met at Birmingham, Alabama, and formed a political party named the "States' Rights" Democratic Party, more commonly known as the "Dixiecrats." Its main goal was to continue the policy of racial segregation and the Jim Crow laws that sustained it. South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond, who had led the walkout, became the party's presidential nominee. Mississippi Governor Fielding L. Wright received the vice-presidential nomination. Thurmond had a moderate position in South Carolina politics, but with his allegiance with the Dixiecrats, he became the symbol of die-hard segregation.[23] The Dixiecrats had no chance of winning the election since they failed to qualify for the ballots of enough states. Their strategy was to win enough Southern states to deny Truman an electoral college victory and force the election into the House of Representatives, where they could then extract concessions from either Truman or his opponent Thomas Dewey on racial issues in exchange for their support. Even if Dewey won the election outright, the Dixiecrats hoped that their defection would show that the Democratic Party needed Southern support to win national elections, and that this fact would weaken the Civil Rights Movement among Northern and Western Democrats. However, the Dixiecrats were weakened when most Southern Democratic leaders (such as Governor Herman Talmadge of Georgia and "Boss" E. H. Crump of Tennessee) refused to support the party.[24] In the November election, Thurmond carried the Deep South states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina.[25] Outside of these four states however, it was only listed as a third-party ticket. Thurmond would receive well over a million popular votes and 39 electoral votes.[25]

Civil Rights Movement[edit]

Main article: Civil Rights Movement

Between 1955 and 1968, a movement towards desegregation began to take place in the American South. Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were highly influential in carrying out a strategy of non-violent protests and demonstrations. African American churches were prominent in organizing their congregations for leadership and protest. Protesters rallied against racial laws, at events such as the Montgomery bus boycott, the Selma to Montgomery marches, the Birmingham campaign, the Greensboro sit-in of 1960, and the March on Washington in 1963.[26]

Legal changes came in the mid-1960s when President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress. It ended legal segregation. He also pushed through the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which set strict rules for protecting the right of African Americans to vote. This law has since been used to protect equal rights for all minorities as well as women.[27]

The South becomes majority Republican[edit]

For nearly a century after Reconstruction (1865–1877), the majority of the white South identified with the Democratic Party. Republicans during this time would only control parts of the mountains districts in southern Appalachia and competed for statewide office in the former border states. Before 1948, Southern Democrats believed that their stance on states' rights and appreciation of traditional southern values, was the defender of the southern way of life. Southern Democrats warned against designs on the part of northern liberals, Republicans (including Southern Republicans), and civil rights activists, whom they denounced as "outside agitators".[citation needed]

The adoption of the first civil rights plank by the 1948 convention and President Truman's Executive Order 9981, which provided for equal treatment and opportunity for African-American military service members, divided the Democratic party's northern and southern wings.[28] In 1952, the Democratic Party named John Sparkman, a moderate Senator from Alabama, as their vice presidential candidate with the hope of building party loyalty in the South.[29][30] By the late 1950s, the national Democratic Party again began to embrace the Civil Rights Movement, and the old argument that Southern whites had to vote for Democrats to protect segregation grew weaker. Modernization had brought factories, national businesses and a more diverse culture to cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, Charlotte and Houston. This attracted millions of U.S. migrants from outside the region, including many African Americans to Southern cities. They gave priority to modernization and economic growth, over preservation of the old economic ways.[31]

After the Civil Rights act of 1964 and The Voting Rights Act of 1965 were passed in Congress, only a small element resisted, led by Democratic governors Lester Maddox of Georgia, and especially George Wallace of Alabama. These populist governors appealed to a less-educated, working-class electorate, that favored the Democratic Party, but also supported segregation.[32] After the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case that outlawed segregation in schools in 1954, integration caused enormous controversy in the white South. For this reason, compliance was very slow and was the subject of violent resistance in some areas.[33]

The Democratic Party no longer acted as the champion of segregation. Newly enfranchised African American voters began supporting Democratic candidates at the 80-90-percent levels, producing Democratic leaders such as Julian Bond and John Lewis of Georgia, and Barbara Jordan of Texas.[34]

Many white southerners switched to the Republican Party during the 1960s, for a variety of reasons. The majority of white southerners shared conservative positions on taxes, moral values, and national security. The Democratic Party had increasingly liberal positions rejected by these voters.[35] In addition, the younger generations, who were politically conservative but wealthier and less attached to the Democratic Party, replaced the older generations who remained loyal to the party.[35] The shift to the Republican Party took place slowly and gradually over almost a century.[35]

Late 20th century into 21st century[edit]

By the 1990s Republicans were starting to win elections at the statewide and local level throughout the South, even though Democrats retained majorities in several state legislatures through the 2000s and 2010s.[35][36] By 2014, the region was heavily Republican at the local, state and national level.[36][37] A key element in the change was the transformation of evangelical white Protestants in the south from largely nonpolitical to heavily Republican. Pew pollsters reported, "In the late 1980s, white evangelicals in the South were still mostly wedded to the Democratic Party while evangelicals outside the South were more aligned with the GOP. But over the course of the next decade or so, the GOP made gains among white Southerners generally and evangelicals in particular, virtually eliminating this regional disparity."[38] Exit polls in the 2004 presidential election showed that Republican George W. Bush led Democrat John Kerry by 70–30% among Southern whites, who comprised 71% of the voters there. By contrast, Kerry had a 90–9 lead among the 18% of African American Southern voters. One-third of the Southern voters said they were white evangelicals; they voted for Bush by 80–20.[39]

2016 - Present[edit]

After the 2016 elections, nearly every state legislature in the South was GOP-controlled.[40] Republican nominee for President Donald Trump notably won Elliott County, KY, becoming the first Republican presidential nominee to ever win that county.[41] Following the 2019 elections, Democrats won control of Virginia's House of Delegates and State Senate, thus giving them trifecta over the state government for the first time since the 1990s.[42] However, in 2021, Virginians would elect Glenn Youngkin as Governor and Republicans would retake control of the House of Delegates with a 52–48 majority.[43] During the early 2020s, Georgia began to see itself become electorally competitive for Republicans again as Joe Biden won the state in 2020 election. Furthermore, Georgia would elect Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock as their Senators in concurrent regularly scheduled and special elections, respectively.[44] Warnock would be elected to a full term in 2022 even as Republicans swept all statewide races and retained control of the state legislature.[45]

Connections between education and politics[edit]

Research studies in American political affiliations demonstrate that an "uneducated"(lack of post-secondary school) white populace tends to vote Republican.[46] Looking at the racial composition through the 2022 census[47] demonstrates that the most prevalent race in the south are whites. Using these pieces of information, the tendency for the south to vote Republican could be further be explained as a lack of education in this region of the United States, as there are several majority-white states outside of the Deep South that tend to vote Democratic (Red states and blue states).

Recent trends[edit]

LGBTQ rights[edit]

Further information: Same-sex marriage in the United States and LGBT rights in the United States

In September 2004, Louisiana became the first state to adopt a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in the South. This was followed by Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Oklahoma in November 2004; Texas in 2005; Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia in 2006; Florida in 2008; and finally North Carolina in 2012. North Carolina became the 30th state to adopt a state constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.[48] This ended with Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court case, which ruled in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide on June 26, 2015.[49] Virginia removed its laws banning same-sex marriage in 2020, but the constitutional amendment banning it is still in place, although not currently enforceable also due to the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act.[50] Republican-majority legislatures in Florida, Tennessee and Texas pushed for increased restrictions on transgender rights and gender-nonconforming expression in the 2020s.

Politics[edit]

While the general trend in the South has shown an increasing dominance of the Republican party since the 1960s, Southern politics in the 21st century are still contentious and competitive.[51] States such as Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina are swing states. Georgia has a Republican governor and 2 Democratic U.S. Senators, Virginia has a Republican governor and 2 Democratic U.S. Senators, and North Carolina has a Democratic Governor and 2 Republican U.S. Senators. Most Southern state legislatures, however, have been governed with Republican supermajorities in both houses at least once since 2000.

All the former Confederate Southern states supported Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary except Texas (won by native son Ted Cruz). Trump won every former Confederate State except Virginia.[52]

Most Southern states, since the earlier 20th century, adopted absolute majority requirements in Democratic "white primary" elections for state and local offices, largely to undermine challengers from among both moderates as well as those further to the right, such as members of the Ku Klux Klan. Some states, like Georgia and Mississippi, also adopted tighter thresholds, with Georgia adopting a County unit system for their Democratic primary and Mississippi adopting a requirement that general election candidates win with a majority of state house districts. Several court cases throughout the 20th and even the 21st centuries have challenged these laws. Several changes in the laws have also, from Louisiana's adoption of the Nonpartisan blanket primary (in the form of the Louisiana primary) to Florida's abolition of the 50% requirement in primary and general elections. However, Georgia (from 1964 to 1994 and since 2005) and Mississippi (since 2020) remain the two states which require absolute majorities in both primaries and general elections.

Politics in the Southern United States, 2001–present
Year
State Elected office 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Alabama President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators 2 R D, R 2 R
Congressional districts R majority
Governor D R
Senate D majority R majority R supermajority
House of Representatives D majority R supermajority
Arkansas President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators D, R 2 D D, R 2 R
Congressional districts D majority R majority
Governor R D R
Senate D majority R majority R supermajority
House of Representatives D majority R majority R supermajority
Delaware President Al Gore (D) John Kerry (D) Barack Obama (D) Hillary Clinton (D) Joe Biden (D)
U.S. senators 2 D
Congressional districts R majority D majority
Governor D
Senate D majority
House of Representatives R majority D majority
Florida President George W. Bush (R) Barack Obama (D) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators 2 D D, R 2R
Congressional districts R majority
Governor R I R
Senate R majority R supermajority R majority R supermajority
House of Representatives R majority R supermajority R majority R supermajority R majority R supermajority
Georgia President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R) Joe Biden (D)
U.S. senators D, R 2 R 2 D
Congressional districts R majority
Governor D R
Senate D majority R majority R supermajority R majority
House of Representatives D majority R majority
Kentucky President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators 2 R
Congressional districts R majority
Governor D R D R D
Senate R majority R supermajority
House of Representatives D majority R majority R supermajority
Louisiana President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators 2 D D, R 2R
Congressional districts R majority
Governor R D R D
Senate D majority R majority R supermajority
House of Representatives D majority R majority
Maryland President Al Gore (D) John Kerry (D) Barack Obama (D) Hillary Clinton (D) Joe Biden (D)
U.S. senators 2 D
Congressional districts 4 D, 4 R D majority
Governor D R D R D
Senate D majority D supermajority
House of Delegates D supermajority D majority D supermajority
Mississippi President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators 2 R
Congressional districts D majority 2 D, 2 R D majority R majority
Governor D R
Senate D majority R majority D majority R majority
House of Representatives D majority R majority
North Carolina President George W. Bush (R) Barack Obama (D) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators D, R 2 R D, R 2 R
Congressional districts R majority D majority R majority
Governor D R D
Senate D majority R majority R supermajority R majority
House of Representatives D majority 60 D, 60 R D majority R majority R supermajority R majority
Oklahoma President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators 2 R
Congressional districts R majority
Governor R D R
Senate D majority 24 D, 24 R R majority R supermajority
House of Representatives D majority R majority R supermajority
South Carolina President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators D, R 2 R
Congressional districts R majority
Governor D R
Senate R majority
House of Representatives R majority R supermajority
Tennessee President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators 2 R
Congressional districts R majority D majority R majority
Governor R D R
Senate D majority 16 R, 16 D, 1 I R majority R supermajority
House of Representatives D majority 49 R, 49 D, 1 CCR R majority R supermajority
Texas President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators 2 R
Congressional districts D majority R majority
Governor R
Senate R majority
House of Representatives D majority R majority R supermajority R majority
Virginia President George W. Bush (R) Barack Obama (D) Hillary Clinton (D) Joe Biden (D)
U.S. senators 2 R D, R 2 D
Congressional districts R majority D majority R majority D majority
Governor R D R D R
Senate R majority D majority R majority D majority R majority D majority
House of Delegates R majority R supermajority R majority D majority R majority
West Virginia President George W. Bush (R) John McCain (R) Mitt Romney (R) Donald Trump (R)
U.S. senators 2 D D, R
Congressional districts D majority R majority
Governor D R
Senate D supermajority D majority R majority R supermajority
House of Representatives D supermajority D supermajority D majority R majority R supermajority
Political views and affiliations in the South in 2016
Political views and affiliations % living in the South
Hard-Pressed Democrats[53] 48 48
 
Disaffected[53] 41 41
 
Bystander[53] 40 40
 
Main Street Republicans[53] 40 40
 
New Coalition Democrats[53] 40 40
 
Staunch Conservative[53] 38 38
 
Post-Modern[53] 31 31
 
Libertarian[53] 28 28
 
Solid Liberal[53] 26 26
 

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Regions and Divisions—2007 Economic Census". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
  2. ^ Acharya, Avidit; Blackwell, Matthew; Sen, Maya (2018-05-22). Deep Roots. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-17674-1.
  3. ^ Mickey, Robert (2015). Paths Out of Dixie. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-13338-6.
  4. ^ How to Save a Constitutional Democracy. University of Chicago Press. 2018. p. 22.
  5. ^ Kuo, Didi (2019). "Comparing America: Reflections on Democracy across Subfields". Perspectives on Politics. 17 (3): 788–800. doi:10.1017/S1537592719001014. ISSN 1537-5927. S2CID 202249318.
  6. ^ Gibson, Edward L. (2013). "Subnational Authoritarianism in the United States". Boundary Control. pp. 35–71. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139017992.003. ISBN 9780521127332. Retrieved 2019-12-26. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  7. ^ "Race, Campaign Politics, and the Realignment in the South". yalebooks.yale.edu. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  8. ^ Bullock, Charles S.; Hoffman, Donna R.; Gaddie, Ronald Keith (2006). "Regional Variations in the Realignment of American Politics, 1944–2004". Social Science Quarterly. 87 (3): 494–518. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00393.x. ISSN 0038-4941. The events of 1964 laid open the divisions between the South and national Democrats and elicited distinctly different voter behavior in the two regions. The agitation for civil rights by southern blacks, continued white violence toward the civil rights movement, and President Lyndon Johnson's aggressive leadership all facilitated passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. [...] In the South, 1964 should be associated with GOP growth while in the Northeast this election contributed to the eradication of Republicans.
  9. ^ Gaddie, Ronald Keith (February 17, 2012). "Realignment". Oxford Handbooks Online. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195381948.013.0013. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  10. ^ Stanley, Harold W. (1988). "Southern Partisan Changes: Dealignment, Realignment or Both?". The Journal of Politics. 50 (1): 64–88. doi:10.2307/2131041. ISSN 0022-3816. JSTOR 2131041. S2CID 154860857. Events surrounding the presidential election of 1964 marked a watershed in terms of the parties and the South (Pomper, 1972). The Solid South was built around the identification of the Democratic party with the cause of white supremacy. Events before 1964 gave white southerners pause about the linkage between the Democratic party and white supremacy, but the 1964 election, passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 altered in the minds of most the positions of the national parties on racial issues.
  11. ^ Miller, Gary; Schofield, Norman (2008). "The Transformation of the Republican and Democratic Party Coalitions in the U.S.". Perspectives on Politics. 6 (3): 433–50. doi:10.1017/S1537592708081218. ISSN 1541-0986. S2CID 145321253. 1964 was the last presidential election in which the Democrats earned more than 50 percent of the white vote in the United States.
  12. ^ "The Rise of Southern Republicans – Earl Black, Merle Black". hup.harvard.edu. Harvard University Press. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2018. When the Republican party nominated Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater—one of the few northern senators who had opposed the Civil Rights Act—as their presidential candidate in 1964, the party attracted many racist southern whites but permanently alienated African-American voters. Beginning with the Goldwater-versus-Johnson campaign more southern whites voted Republican than Democratic, a pattern that has recurred in every subsequent presidential election. [...] Before the 1964 presidential election the Republican party had not carried any Deep South state for eighty-eight years. Yet shortly after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act, hundreds of Deep South counties gave Barry Goldwater landslide majorities.
  13. ^ a b Issue Evolution. Princeton University Press. 6 September 1990. ISBN 9780691023311. Archived from the original on May 16, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
  14. ^ Miller, Gary; Schofield, Norman (2003). "Activists and Partisan Realignment in the United States". American Political Science Review. 97 (2): 245–60. doi:10.1017/S0003055403000650. ISSN 1537-5943. S2CID 12885628. By 2000, however, the New Deal party alignment no longer captured patterns of partisan voting. In the intervening 40 years, the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts had triggered an increasingly race-driven distinction between the parties. [...] Goldwater won the electoral votes of five states of the Deep South in 1964, four of them states that had voted Democratic for 84 years (Califano 1991, 55). He forged a new identification of the Republican party with racial conservatism, reversing a century-long association of the GOP with racial liberalism. This in turn opened the door for Nixon's "Southern strategy" and the Reagan victories of the eighties.
  15. ^ Valentino, Nicholas A.; Sears, David O. (2005). "Old Times There Are Not Forgotten: Race and Partisan Realignment in the Contemporary South". American Journal of Political Science. 49 (3): 672–88. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5907.2005.00136.x. ISSN 0092-5853.
  16. ^ Ilyana, Kuziemko; Ebonya, Washington (2018). "Why Did the Democrats Lose the South? Bringing New Data to an Old Debate". American Economic Review. 108 (10): 2830–2867. doi:10.1257/aer.20161413. ISSN 0002-8282.
  17. ^ Amanda Cox (2012-10-15). "Over the Decades, How States Have Shifted". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  18. ^ "Which States Are in the South?". FiveThirtyEight. 2014-04-30. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
  19. ^ "History Engine: The Second Reconstruction Act is passed". University of Virginia.
  20. ^ "Reconstruction vs. Redemption". National Endowment for the Humanities. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  21. ^ Michael Perman, Pursuit of Unity: A Political History of the American South (2009)
  22. ^ Sitkoff, Harvard (November 1971). "Harry Truman and the Election of 1948: The Coming of Age of Civil Rights in American Politics". Journal of Southern History. 37 (4): 597–616. doi:10.2307/2206548. JSTOR 2206548.
  23. ^ Jack Bass and Marilyn W. Thompson, Strom: The Complicated Personal and Political Life of Strom Thurmond (2005).
  24. ^ Kari Frederickson, The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932–1968 (2001)
  25. ^ a b "Dixiecrats". Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  26. ^ "The Emergence of the Civil Rights Movement | Boundless US History". courses.lumenlearning.com. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  27. ^ "Johnson signs Civil Rights Act - Jul 02, 1964 - HISTORY.com". HISTORY.com. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  28. ^ Littlejohn, Jeffrey L., and Charles H. Ford. "Truman and Civil Rights." in Daniel S. Margolies, ed. A Companion to Harry S. Truman (2012) p 287.
  29. ^ "Sparkman Chosen by Democrats as Running Mate for Stevenson; Senator Hails Party Solidarity". partners.nytimes.com. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  30. ^ "John J. Sparkman - Encyclopedia of Alabama". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  31. ^ Byron E. Shafer, The End of Southern Exceptionalism: Class, Race, and Partisan Change in the Postwar South (2006) ch 6
  32. ^ "Lester Maddox (1915-2003)". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  33. ^ "School Segregation and Integration - Civil Rights History Project". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  34. ^ Lawson, Steven F. (1991). "Freedom then, freedom now: The historiography of the civil rights movement". American Historical Review. 96 (2): 456–471. doi:10.2307/2163219. JSTOR 2163219.
  35. ^ a b c d Trende, Sean (September 9, 2010). "Misunderstanding the Southern Realignment". RealClearPolitics. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  36. ^ a b Hamby, Peter (December 9, 2014). "The plight of the Southern Democrat". CNN. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  37. ^ Cohn, Nate (December 4, 2014). "Demise of the Southern Democrat Is Now Nearly Complete". The New York Times. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  38. ^ "Religion and the Presidential Vote | Pew Research Center". People-press.org. 6 December 2004. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
  39. ^ "Exit Polls". CNN. 2004-11-02. Retrieved 2006-11-18.
  40. ^ Loftus, Tom (November 9, 2016). "GOP takes Ky House in historic shift". courier-journal.com. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  41. ^ Simon, Jeff (December 9, 2016). "How Trump Ended Democrats' 144-Year Winning Streak in One County". CNN. Retrieved January 15, 2017.
  42. ^ Williams, Joel (9 January 2020). "Virginia becomes Democratic trifecta as legislators are sworn in – Ballotpedia News". Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  43. ^ "Republican Glenn Youngkin wins election for governor in Virginia". PBS NewsHour. 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  44. ^ Stuart, Tessa (2021-01-06). "Warnock Makes History and Democrats Gain Senate Majority". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  45. ^ "Georgia Election Results 2022: Live Map | Midterm Races by County & District". www.politico.com. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  46. ^ Jones, Bradley (2018-03-20). "1. Trends in party affiliation among demographic groups". Pew Research Center - U.S. Politics & Policy. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  47. ^ Bureau, US Census. "The Chance That Two People Chosen at Random Are of Different Race or Ethnicity Groups Has Increased Since 2010". Census.gov. Retrieved 2022-11-18.
  48. ^ "Progression of same-sex Marriage in the United States and Worldwide". 2014-11-25. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  49. ^ "Timeline: Same-sex marriage through the years". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  50. ^ "Respect for Marriage Act resonates in Virginia". VPM. 2022-12-16. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  51. ^ "The Long Goodbye". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-11-10.
  52. ^ "Why the South likes Donald Trump". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  53. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Beyond Red vs. Blue : Political Typology" (PDF). People-press.org. Retrieved 2016-03-09.

Bibliography[edit]

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