Will Virginia ever be a red state again?
No, not yet at least. The population centers (or at least NoVA and Richmond, I'm not convinced about Hampton Roads just yet) are pretty blue, but the rest of the state is pretty red. It's just that fairly few cities more than match the rest of the state for population.
Why did Virginia flip blue?
Virginia became a blue state as the world celebrated the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The political development of the Commonwealth is emblematic of America in the post-Cold ...
Which party controls the Virginia Senate?
Which party controls the Virginia state legislature? Following the 2019 election, the Democratic Party held a majority of seats in both the House and the Senate for the first time since 1996. They were sworn into office on January 8, 2020 at the start of the 161st session.
Is Virginia dem or Rep?
Primarily Republican from 1900 until the Great Depression, the state was then reliably Democratic, with few exceptions through Bill Clinton's 2nd election in 1996. Since then, the state has become solidly Republican, with that party winning by an increasing margin in each election from 2000 through 2016.
So, what color is Virginia now?
Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe for the Virginia governorship earlier this month, but the commonwealth continues to lean toward the Democrats in federal statewide races, Rothenberg writes. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Voting patterns, candidates, national environment all matter
Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe for the Virginia governorship earlier this month, but the commonwealth continues to lean toward the Democrats in federal statewide races, Rothenberg writes. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Which state is the bluest?
West Virginia: How the Bluest State Became the Reddest. CHARLESTON, W.V. — The American political landscape has changed a lot over the past 25 years but there is no more dramatic shift than the one that has pushed this state from deep blue to ruby red. In the 1992 presidential election, Democrat Bill Clinton won West Virginia by a solid 13 ...
Who won West Virginia in 1992?
In the 1992 presidential election, Democrat Bill Clinton won West Virginia by a solid 13 percentage points. In November, Republican President-elect Donald Trump captured the state in a walk — winning it by more than 40 percentage points. The forces behind that turnaround are complex. The decline of the coal industry and the changing demographics ...
How much has coal declined in West Virginia?
Coal has dominated much of the state's story, and the industry’s declines are very real. Coal production in West Virginia has declined by 30 percent since 2010 and, in that time, coal mine employment in West Virginia has fallen by more than 27 percent. Some places have been hit especially hard.
What are the forces behind the West Virginia turnaround?
The forces behind that turnaround are complex . The decline of the coal industry and the changing demographics of the political parties explain part of it. But underneath that are the peaks and valleys of the Appalachian Mountains that make West Virginia what it is: picturesque, resource-rich and remote.
What percentage of West Virginia's population has a bachelor's degree?
And one of the Democrats' growing strengths, college graduates, are not a big part of West Virginia’s population. Only 19 percent of the adult population has a bachelor’s degree compared to nearly 30 percent nationally.
What is the political shift in West Virginia?
In a larger sense, though, West Virginia’s political shift is about more than economics. It’s about changes in the parties, the way the state’s population views itself and the way it views Washington. So it’s about culture as much as economics.
Which point is better understood when you spend some time in the state and look at the demographic transformation of the Democratic Party?
Plante’s point is better understood when you spend some time in the state and look at the demographic transformation of the Democratic Party.
What is the difference between red states and blue states?
Since around the 2000 United States presidential election, red states and blue states have referred to states of the United States whose voters predominantly choose either the Republican Party (red) or Democratic Party (blue) presidential and senatorial candidates. Since then, the use of the term has been expanded to differentiate between states being perceived as liberal or Marxist and those perceived as conservative. Examining patterns within states reveals that the reversal of the two parties' geographic bases has happened at the state level, but it is more complicated locally, with urban-rural divides associated with many of the largest changes.
Why are all states blue?
All states contain both liberal and conservative voters (i.e., they are "purple") and only appear blue or red on the electoral map because of the winner-take-all system used by most states in the Electoral College.
What color is used for Republicans?
There was one historical use, associated with boss rule, of blue for Democrats and red for Republicans: in the late 19th century and early 20th century, Texas county election boards used color-coding to help Spanish-speaking and illiterate voters identify the parties; however, this system was not applied consistently in Texas and was not replicated in any other state. In 1908, The New York Times printed a special color map, using blue for Democrats and yellow for Republicans, to detail Theodore Roosevelt 's 1904 electoral victory. That same year, a color supplement included with a July issue of the Washington Post used red for Republican-leaning states, blue for Democratic-leaning states, yellow for "doubtful" states and green for territories that had no presidential vote.
Why did the media use the same color scheme in 2000?
In the days following the 2000 election, whose outcome was unclear for some time after election day, major media outlets began conforming to the same color scheme because the electoral map was continually in view , and conformity made for easy and instant viewer comprehension. On election night that year, there was no coordinated effort to code Democratic states blue and Republican states red; the association gradually emerged. Partly as a result of this eventual and near-universal color-coding, the terms "red states" and "blue states" entered popular use in the weeks following the 2000 presidential election. After the results were final with the Republican George W. Bush winning, journalists stuck with the color scheme, as The Atlantic ' s December 2001 cover story by David Brooks entitled, "One Nation, Slightly Divisible", illustrated.
What does the blue flag represent?
Traditional political mapmakers, at least throughout the 20th century, had used blue to represent the modern-day Republicans, as well as the earlier Federalist Party.
Why did the North get blue pencils?
However, at that time, a maker of widely-sold maps accompanied them with blue pencils in order to mark Confederate force movements, while red was for the union.
How many states were in the 2004 presidential election?
Forty-seven of the 50 states were consistent in voting for George W. Bush or his Democratic opponent in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. The exceptions were New Mexico ( Al Gore in 2000 and Bush in 2004), Iowa (Gore in 2000 and Bush in 2004), and New Hampshire (Bush in 2000 and Kerry in 2004). The 2004 election showed two of these three states to be true to the presidential preferences of their respective regions, creating a greater regional separation; thus, an argument that the country was more divided from the 2000 election. All three of those states were very close in both elections. In 2008, Obama carried Iowa and New Hampshire by more than nine percentage points, and New Mexico by double digits.
What does it mean when a state is a red state?
When a state is called a "red state", it means that it has traditionally voted in favor of Republican candidates. The terms "red state" and "blue state" have been in familiar lexicon since the 2000 US presidential election. If a state is not a red state or a blue state, it might be a swing state . A map showing red states, blue states, ...
Which state has the strongest Republican support?
Oklahoma. Oklahoma has exhibited some of the strongest Republican support of any of the previously mentioned. Currently in its 12th consecutive Republican streak, the last 5 elections have been won with over 60% popularity. In the 2016 election, the Republican presidential candidate won with 65.3% of the vote.
Is South Dakota a Republican state?
South Dakota has historically voted Republican. Throughout the past five election cycles, Republican support in South Dakota sat at at least 50% support. In 2016, 61.5% of the population of South Dakota voted Republican.
What does yellow mean in soccer?
Light coloured means ‘Pretty likely to swing left/right, but be on the look out because it could flip. And yellow means ‘Who knows!’
Is Virginia a blue state?
Virginia is essentially a blue state. I really do not believe it is much in play anymore. Population growth in urban areas, especially Northern Virginia, has really changed things. From a geographic perspective, Virginia is mostly red. But, those 80+ counties population are lower than the remaining 30 or so jurisdictions. Thus at a statewide level, Virginia is Blue.
Will Virginia go red again?
Virginia probably won’t go red again for a long time.
Was Nevada a red state?
From the 1950s through the 1980s, Nevada was a red state in presidential elections while also electing mix of conservative Democrats like Senator Howard Cannon and Rep. Jim Santini plus Republicans like Governor and US Senator Paul Laxalt. It had only one House member. Its economy was a mix of gambling in Reno and Las Vegas and a lot of ranching, farming, and mining.
How many states have partisan leans?
As a reminder, partisan leans for all 50 states (plus Washington, D.C.) and all 435 congressional districts are publicly accessible on our GitHub page.
Is Arizona a red state?
By this definition, Arizona and Georgia are still (slightly) red states — R+7.6 and R+7.4, respectively. While they may have voted for Biden in 2020, they did so by margins smaller than his national popular vote win of 4.5 percentage points. (These partisan lean values also factor in the results of other elections, in which Republicans did better in Arizona and Georgia. More on that in a minute.) But here are the new FiveThirtyEight partisan leans for every state for the 2021-22 election cycle, updated with the results of the 2020 elections.