West Virginia: A blue state’s road to red

[Tetro Kornbluth]

...what are you even trying to prove?

As far as I can see, that:
1) The importance of coal to WV is overrated. The coal industry is not big enough for it to explain the Democratic fall in the state

2) The economy of WV is doing well despite there being fewer coal-related jobs.

6.7% of GDP is a lot.

[Lurker]

 Somewhat off-topic, but I wonder what's the Democratic equivalent of West Virginia - i.e. the state that has gone the most from solidly Republican to solidly Democratic in recent decades?

The first example that comes to mind is Delaware, which voted strongly Republican in presidential elections until the 90's and is now one of the most reliable Democratic states around.

[Stranger in a strange land]

Somewhat off-topic, but I wonder what's the Democratic equivalent of West Virginia - i.e. the state that has gone the most from solidly Republican to solidly Democratic in recent decades?

Vermont.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

So, if coal isn't what's moving West Virginia to the right, then what is?

[Oldiesfreak1854]

West Virginia is still one of the most Democrat-leaning states at the state and local level, even if it's becoming more Republican in presidential contests.  And I wouldn't call it a "blue state" prior to 2000, since that was the year the networks began uniformly using those colors.

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

Well I find it funny that it wasn't really competitive during its transition and once Gore mentioned gun control, it switched to being light red and last year was safe red. However, let's break down some numbers to see if we can get a transition. By the way, I think Hillary Clinton can make the state close.


1988 D+13
1992 D+7
1996 D+6
2000 R+7
2004 R+10
2008 R+20
2012 R+30

WV loves Hillary Clinton so much, it gave her a resounding 26% of the vote.

[King of Kensington]

I'm amazed nobody's mentioned Bernie yet (not because I think he'd win the state, but because such a big deal was made over his showing in the WV Democratic primary).

[Skunk]

I'm amazed nobody's mentioned Bernie yet (not because I think he'd win the state, but because such a big deal was made over his showing in the WV Democratic primary).

Nobody mentioned Bernie yet because this thread is from 2013.

[King of Kensington]

Good point!

[pbrower2a]

Democrats long held the political system,  but while winning West Virginia depended upon getting the votes of miners, Democrats underinvested in such things as education, public health, and roads.  Once the coal was gone, Republicans got to take advantage of years of neglect of such things.

[Doimper]

By the way, I think Hillary Clinton can make the state close.

rip

[DINGO Joe]

Your average state voter

http://wvpublic.org/post/residents-suddenly-left-without-clean-water-dispute-mine-company#stream/0

“As a governor, I think he’s doing a good job. I like him myself, I voted for the man,” Browning said. “So I’d appreciate it if he’d just take care of our water situation, you know? That’d be nice.”

Like many in the area, both families have connections to the mining industry.

“None of us in this lawsuit is against the coal mining company. I mean, that’s the way of life here in West Virginia,” Walker said. “Only thing we have a problem with is they’re damaging our resources to our natural water, and we want them to clean the mess up.”

[DINGO Joe]

Democrats long held the political system,  but while winning West Virginia depended upon getting the votes of miners, Democrats underinvested in such things as education, public health, and roads.  Once the coal was gone, Republicans got to take advantage of years of neglect of such things.

Given the candidates WV voters seem most enthusiastic about, they seem to be determined to double down on coal despite the reality.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Your average state voter

http://wvpublic.org/post/residents-suddenly-left-without-clean-water-dispute-mine-company#stream/0

“As a governor, I think he’s doing a good job. I like him myself, I voted for the man,” Browning said. “So I’d appreciate it if he’d just take care of our water situation, you know? That’d be nice.”

Like many in the area, both families have connections to the mining industry.

“None of us in this lawsuit is against the coal mining company. I mean, that’s the way of life here in West Virginia,” Walker said. “Only thing we have a problem with is they’re damaging our resources to our natural water, and we want them to clean the mess up.”

My goodness.

Well, I might as well keep my mouth shut.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Democrats long held the political system,  but while winning West Virginia depended upon getting the votes of miners, Democrats underinvested in such things as education, public health, and roads.  Once the coal was gone, Republicans got to take advantage of years of neglect of such things.

Given the candidates WV voters seem most enthusiastic about, they seem to be determined to double down on coal despite the reality.

Yep, unfortunately.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

This is sort of like people around Cincinnati displaying hero worship of local corporations that have trashed the local economy and ruined the environment.

[ElectionsGuy]

In 2013 they characterized it as a "road to red" even though we can see the state had been red for some time even before then. It was on its road to red in the 2000's, there's just such a delay to the way people vote for lower levels of government that some didn't see it.