Are suburban Republicans really more moderate?

[Mr. Illini]

It depends on the suburbs. Suburban Chicago Republicans are UNQUESTIONABLY more moderate than Republicans in rural Illinois. That goes especially for social issues, but on economic issues as well, no exceptions.

That said, ElectionsGuy's territory is home to very conservative suburban Republicans. I would argue that suburban Milwaukee Republicans are more conservative than Republicans in Wisconsin's rural areas.

It really is dependent on the city's history and the history of the suburbs themselves. I would say that good correlations are the city's size, whereas for bigger cities the suburban population tens to be more moderate than for smaller cities. For example, the suburbs of LA, Chicago, and New York are considerably more liberal than the suburbs of Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, or Tampa. It also depends on the region of the country, being that more conservative regions like the south still have very liberal cities, but the suburban areas are where the fact that it is a conservative region of the country can really swing it. For example, Houston and Phoenix have much more conservative suburbs than Boston and San Francisco.