New ranking of most Democratic and Republican states

[Bandit3 the Worker]

I developed a method for ranking states' political preferences, based on presidential and other election results and on voter registration. In some cases, third parties are counted with one of the major parites, based on their usual alliance with some faction of the major parties.

Here's the Democratic states ranked in descending order from most Democratic:

DC
MA
RI
HI
MD
NJ
WV
NY
WA
LA
VT
IL
CT
MI
DE
CA
WI
NM
ME
OR
AR
NC
PA
IA
TN

Here's a ranking of Republican states starting with the most Republican:

ID
UT
WY
AK
NE
MT
TX
SD
NH
KS
AL
MS
SC
OH
CO
ND
GA
KY
VA
AZ
NV
OK
IN
MO
FL
MN

(If you think Minnesota doesn't belong in the Republican column, look at some of the people it's elected lately. The lower house of the state legislature is overpoweringly GOP, and it has a very right-wing Republican governor.)

[zachman]

You put NY as the eighth most Democratic state! Its margin of victory in Presidential elections is much larger than all but three states/the disctrict.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

This isn't based strictly on presidential election results.

[zachman]

WV is not more demoratic than NY.

[12th Doctor]

I say PA should be in the Republican catagory or at leas the least Dem leaning state.  We have a Republican upper and lower houses.  We have a congressional delegation that is overwhealmingly Republican and a Republican Atty. General.

[12th Doctor]

I'm glad that you pointed out the truth about Minnesota though.  

[Harry]

NH isn't that republican; it shouldn't be with those western states

[opebo]

This isn't based strictly on presidential election results.

Excellent list Bandit.  Its true that presidential voting doesn't fully reflect a state's party makeup.  MO has become much more Republican since 2002 with the GOP taking over both houses of the legislature.  We'll take back the governorship this year as well.

[Sibboleth]

Not bad bandit

WV *is* more Democrat than NY (NY is not just NYC), voter registration in WV is overwhelming Democrat... there is however the problem of getting people to vote...

I would say that PA is a Democrat state... just.

[Vasall des Midas]

But NEW JERSEY more Democrat than New York? I'd like to see a full disclosure of the methodology before I believe that one.

[CTguy]

Connecticut is less democratic than West Virginia and Louisiana?  Two states that Gore lost, even though Gore won ever single district in Connecticut and over 80% of towns.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Remember, Louisiana still has a heavily Democratic legislature.

I did a ranking like this in the '80s, and the most Democratic states were in the Deep South, even though Democratic presidential candidates were getting demolished there.

[CTguy]

Oh ok, I thought we were talking about presidential elections.  

[Sibboleth]

Connecticut is less democratic than West Virginia and Louisiana?  Two states that Gore lost, even though Gore won ever single district in Connecticut and over 80% of towns.

Gore does not=Democrat.
Gore did worse in WV and LA than he should have done (the failure to campaign in WV in the last few days cost him the election. And in LA for some reason he did worse than Dukakis in the Cajun area).
And besides... Louisiana and West Virginia have some of the strongest Democrat machines in America.

[CTguy]

You honestly think Kerry is going to win West Virginia in 2004 though?

[CTguy]

Because I think the Republicans are going to play up peoples prejudices and pound him with the reputation of "Northeastern liberal."

I think some on this board have shown that a lot of people in this country have contempt for people from the Northeast... especially New England.  

[Sibboleth]

Dukakis was far more of a "North East Liberal" than Kerry is... and he won WV.

I think that the traditional North-South division is dying.
It will probably be replaced by a West-East division. And that's why I'm more worried about Oregon than any other Gore state...

[12th Doctor]

Connecticut is less democratic than West Virginia and Louisiana?  Two states that Gore lost, even though Gore won ever single district in Connecticut and over 80% of towns.

Gore does not=Democrat.
Gore did worse in WV and LA than he should have done (the failure to campaign in WV in the last few days cost him the election. And in LA for some reason he did worse than Dukakis in the Cajun area).
And besides... Louisiana and West Virginia have some of the strongest Democrat machines in America.

Al, I honestly don't think that you understand something.  West Virginia is a Democrat state, but not an Al Gore, John Kerry Democrat state.  It IS a Zell Miller, 'Scoop' Jackson, Hubert Humphrey, Joe Liebermann Democrat state.  You may not recongnize the difference, but there is one.

[Sibboleth]

Nah... it's more of a Byrd Democrat state... Maybe Miller of the early 90's... but not the Miller of 2004.

[CTguy]

Joe Lieberman is a disgrace to the democratic party.  He should become a republican already so we can vote him out....

The only reason he won re-election last time is because the Republicans put a CONVICTED CHILD MOLESTOR up to run against him.

[12th Doctor]

Nah... it's more of a Byrd Democrat state... Maybe Miller of the early 90's... but not the Miller of 2004.

Uh, no, it really isn't.

[12th Doctor]

Joe Lieberman is a disgrace to the democratic party.  He should become a republican already so we can vote him out....

The only reason he won re-election last time is because the Republicans put a CONVICTED CHILD MOLESTOR up to run against him.

See this shows the state of the modern Democratic Party.  They take one of the few decent, fair-minded, all-around-good-guy people left in thier party (certainly in the Senate) and call him a disgrace to the party.  Tell me, why is he a disgrace?

[Sibboleth]

Miller and Lieberman are fiscal conservatives... but Miller when he was GA gov... yeah probably.

But I agree that WV is something of a Humphrey-Democrat state ("Humphrey... The Peoples Democrat").

Gore should have won WV in 2000... Had he campaigned in the state he would have got more people from mining communities to vote, which would have sealed it nicely.

But that's off topic.

[12th Doctor]

Miller and Lieberman are fiscal conservatives... but Miller when he was GA gov... yeah probably.

But I agree that WV is something of a Humphrey-Democrat state ("Humphrey... The Peoples Democrat").

Gore should have won WV in 2000... Had he campaigned in the state he would have got more people from mining communities to vote, which would have sealed it nicely.

But that's off topic.

Have you people ever stoped to consider the obvious: Miller hasn't changed.  The Democrats have changed.  If Gore had put the effort in WV that he needed to win the state, he'd have lost Oregon, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Iowa and probably Minnesota too.

There is something you need to understand, Al Gore and John Kerry aren't the type of Dems that can be elected in WV.  They just aren't, policy wise and personality wise, viable candidates there.  I know what voters in West Virginia are like.  They aren't that much different from voters in the area where I grew up anf they will flatly reject Kerry, just like they did Gore.

[CTguy]

Lieberman is a disgrace on many levels.

The most important of which is that he votes with the Republicans too often because of his own political ambitions.  We have known for years here in CT that he wanted to run for President.  

The fact is that Connecticut is one of the most liberal states in the country and we don't elect someone to congress so they can talk about family values.  We want someone who votes our interests.  And he has done NOTHING for the state of Connecticut but vote with religious zealots as if he was representing Alabama.  Not to mention the fact that as a Connecticut Taxpayer I send my money to Washington and little of it comes back to the state.  So what has he done for the state?  Absolutely nothing.  He's not even a good fiscal conservative.  I will not be voting for him the next time he is up for re-election.  I will likely not vote Republican but I am not going to an endorse a religious extremist like him.