1962 Alabama Senate Election (Hill (D) wins by a narrow margin)

[RBH]

A map of Hill's 51/49 win over Jim Martin:



And a summary

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And yes.. Goldwater and Martin shared a stronghold too.

[RBH]

Amazing that Macon remained heavily Democratic. It's the quintessential Black Belt county, but it defied every trend by voting strongly for Hill in this race and- even more impressive- going for the unpledged Democratic slate over Goldwater in 1964.

Were blacks already voting in significant numbers? Or were whites simply so poor that they continued voting Democratic in the face of the civil rights movement? iirc, Gore and Kerry both won the few white precincts in Macon.

I don't know the specifics of Macon County, but the Governor primary elections showed that Macon went for Wallace in 1958 (when Wallace ran to the left of Patterson and the Klan), and then voted for Folsom in the 1962 primary and deGreffinreid in the 1962 runoff by a 3 to 2 margin.

The first desegregation of Alabama schools occured in Macon County. Via court order, of course. But, still.

[RBH]

but the Governor primary elections showed that Macon went for Wallace in 1958 (when Wallace ran to the left of Patterson and the Klan

Do you have a map of that?

I have a map of the runoffs for 1958 and 1962.

But Imageshack is flaking on me big time.

[RBH]

Check the results from Blount and St. Clair counties between 2000 and 2004.

[RBH]

I really can't see Cobb or Gwinett going Dem. Just really not in their culture. It would be like an inner city ghetto going Republican.

Clayton, 1984: 73/27 Reagan
Cobb, 1984: 77/23 Reagan
DeKalb, 1984: 58/42 Reagan
Gwinnett, 1984: 79/21 Reagan
Rockdale, 1984: 75/25 Reagan
Georgia, 1984: 60/40 Reagan

Clayton, 2004: 70/29 Kerry (42 point shift)
Cobb, 2004: 62/37 Bush (13 point shift)
DeKalb, 2004: 73/23 Kerry (29 point shift)
Gwinnett, 2004: 66/33 Bush (11 point shift)
Rockdale, 2004: 60/39 Bush (13 point shift)
Georgia, 2004: 58/41 Bush

Give Cobb and Gwinnett time, they're in an area that is shifting quickly.