Why is the Mountain West so socially liberal?

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

The mountain west is incredibly republican, yet much of it is socially much more liberal than expected. Montana is as liberal in social values as Virginia, Nebraska more than Ohio, Idaho more than Florida. Why?

[Brittain33]

Low religious observance outside Mormon country.

[Beet]

The Mountain West is not socially liberal. The parties out there may be less conservative than the same parties in other regions, but the difference is greatly exaggerated, and is overwhelmed by the area's ironclad Republican loyalties. As a whole, it is still a conservative region.

[TDAS04]

The mountain west is incredibly republican, yet much of it is socially much more liberal than expected. Montana is as liberal in social values as Virginia, Nebraska more than Ohio, Idaho more than Florida. Why?

Nebraska is definitely not more socially liberal than Ohio.  I also wouldn't call Idaho more socially liberal than Florida.

[MT Treasurer]

Montana is as liberal in social values as Virginia

No. This "Montana is a sociul librully, fiscual conservaiv state" meme is greatly exaggerated, and for the most part not even true. It's definitely not more or as socially liberal as Virginia, lol.

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

http://religionnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PRRI-AVA-same-sex-marriage-1-RNS2-copy.jpg. http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-label-fig3.jpg On social issues, the Mountain West is not that conservative.

[TDAS04]

To be fair, most of the people in the Mountain West live in the more liberal, generally more urban states (CO, AZ, NM, NV).  That probably does make the overall population more socially liberal than the nation as a whole.

[Nyvin]

The big city areas out west are more socially liberal, but those are usually drowned out by all the small town/rancher communities that surround them.   

[TDAS04]

http://religionnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PRRI-AVA-same-sex-marriage-1-RNS2-copy.jpg. http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-label-fig3.jpg On social issues, the Mountain West is not that conservative.

That map shows New Hampshire to be more pro-gay marriage than Massachusetts and Vermont, lol.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Montana is as liberal in social values as Virginia

No. This "Montana is a sociul librully, fiscual conservaiv state" meme is greatly exaggerated, and for the most part not even true. It's definitely not more or as socially liberal as Virginia, lol.

Virginia's social liberalism is skewed by certain places (*cough*No*cough*VA). Most of the state is Bible-thumpin' country.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

The mountain west is incredibly republican, yet much of it is socially much more liberal than expected. Montana is as liberal in social values as Virginia, Nebraska more than Ohio, Idaho more than Florida. Why?

Nebraska is definitely not more socially liberal than Ohio.  I also wouldn't call Idaho more socially liberal than Florida.

Is Nebraska 'Mountain West'?

[TDAS04]

The mountain west is incredibly republican, yet much of it is socially much more liberal than expected. Montana is as liberal in social values as Virginia, Nebraska more than Ohio, Idaho more than Florida. Why?

Nebraska is definitely not more socially liberal than Ohio.  I also wouldn't call Idaho more socially liberal than Florida.

Is Nebraska 'Mountain West'?

No.

[RINO Tom]

Two comments:

1) Utah always gets left off the "cosmopolitan" states, but it is QUITE urban and suburban.  It's super Republican, but so are a lot of suburbs ... there are more "super Republican" suburbs out there than "super Democratic" ones, after all.

2) I think it's more of a case that the social conservatives in the Mountain West (and there are tons of them) are less socially conservative than the social conservatives in, say, the South?  That doesn't make them socially liberal, but the region's Republican Parties do seem to have more of a "mainstream" feel.

[MT Treasurer]

http://religionnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PRRI-AVA-same-sex-marriage-1-RNS2-copy.jpg. http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-label-fig3.jpg On social issues, the Mountain West is not that conservative.

Yeah, I'm not sure what these maps are supposed to tell us. Generally, same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization and aid in dying aren't really THAT controversial issues in the Mountain States (again, that doesn't mean that people don't hold different views or aren't divided over these issues, but not many people really care about them), or at least not as much as in other parts of the country. While Montana is definitely majority pro-choice (then again, so is Wyoming, I believe), there is still a significant percentage of the population that is pretty pro-life, though you won't find as many single issue "pro-life" voters in MT as in... say... AL, obviously. It's probably fair to say that most Republican voters value a hands-off approach of the government more than anything else. But it's definitely not true that the state is as socially liberal as VA, especially when it comes to issues like abortion and gun rights.

Just compare these results...

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=30&year=2004&f=0&off=60&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=eade5505-b9a5-4604-aa7c-e8b578bfddf1

with these ones:

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=51&year=2006&f=0&off=50&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=09dfde52-e7c5-4c31-8ab1-126384d162b6

(Sorry, I wasn't able to find more data. Note that the SurveyUSA results are from 2005, and even back then VA was more liberal than MT. Now, the gap is much wider, I would assume. If I had to guess, I'd say MT is something like 54/46 pro-choice and VA 62/38, but I could be wrong.)

Also, TDAS is absolutely right that most people in the West live in urban areas, and those are generally much more liberal than the rural ones. This is a very important point that people often seem to forget, but it's not that complicated.

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

http://religionnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PRRI-AVA-same-sex-marriage-1-RNS2-copy.jpg. http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-label-fig3.jpg On social issues, the Mountain West is not that conservative.

Yeah, I'm not sure what these maps are supposed to tell us. Generally, same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization and aid in dying aren't really THAT controversial issues in the Mountain States (again, that doesn't mean that people don't hold different views or aren't divided over these issues, but not many people really care about them), or at least not as much as in other parts of the country. While Montana is definitely majority pro-choice (then again, so is Wyoming, I believe), there is still a significant percentage of the population that is pretty pro-life, though you won't find as many single issue "pro-life" voters in MT as in... say... AL, obviously. It's probably fair to say that most Republican voters value a hands-off approach of the government more than anything else. But it's definitely not true that the state is as socially liberal as VA, especially when it comes to issues like abortion and gun rights.

Just compare these results...

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=30&year=2004&f=0&off=60&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=eade5505-b9a5-4604-aa7c-e8b578bfddf1

with these ones:

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=51&year=2006&f=0&off=50&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=09dfde52-e7c5-4c31-8ab1-126384d162b6

(Sorry, I wasn't able to find more data. Note that the SurveyUSA results are from 2005, and even back then VA was more liberal than MT. Now, the gap is much wider, I would assume. If I had to guess, I'd say MT is something like 54/46 pro-choice and VA 62/38, but I could be wrong.)

Also, TDAS is absolutely right that most people in the West live in urban areas, and those are generally much more liberal than the rural ones. This is a very important point that people often seem to forget, but it's not that complicated.

Virginia was 4 points more pro-choice, which is within the margin of error. Also, the SSM marriage questions were asked two years apart. That accounts for a lot of the difference.

[100% pro-life no matter what]

http://religionnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PRRI-AVA-same-sex-marriage-1-RNS2-copy.jpg. http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-label-fig3.jpg On social issues, the Mountain West is not that conservative.

Yeah, I'm not sure what these maps are supposed to tell us. Generally, same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization and aid in dying aren't really THAT controversial issues in the Mountain States (again, that doesn't mean that people don't hold different views or aren't divided over these issues, but not many people really care about them), or at least not as much as in other parts of the country. While Montana is definitely majority pro-choice (then again, so is Wyoming, I believe), there is still a significant percentage of the population that is pretty pro-life, though you won't find as many single issue "pro-life" voters in MT as in... say... AL, obviously. It's probably fair to say that most Republican voters value a hands-off approach of the government more than anything else. But it's definitely not true that the state is as socially liberal as VA, especially when it comes to issues like abortion and gun rights.

Just compare these results...

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=30&year=2004&f=0&off=60&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=eade5505-b9a5-4604-aa7c-e8b578bfddf1

with these ones:

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=51&year=2006&f=0&off=50&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=09dfde52-e7c5-4c31-8ab1-126384d162b6

(Sorry, I wasn't able to find more data. Note that the SurveyUSA results are from 2005, and even back then VA was more liberal than MT. Now, the gap is much wider, I would assume. If I had to guess, I'd say MT is something like 54/46 pro-choice and VA 62/38, but I could be wrong.)

Also, TDAS is absolutely right that most people in the West live in urban areas, and those are generally much more liberal than the rural ones. This is a very important point that people often seem to forget, but it's not that complicated.

Here's what I figured out using someone's map in December on abortion (since nationwide pro-life/pro-choice polling is all over the place, I used the baseline of a 50-50 nation):

It depends upon one defines a social conservative, since like any other catchall phrase looses a lot of detail if it is bandied around without context.

If we look at a few keys subjects commonly considered part of the "social conservative" movement like Abortion Rights, Gay Marriage, and Gun restrictions we see a considerable amount of variation within the six states of New England....

From most socially conservative to less socially conservative:

1.) Abortion Rights
      A.) Rhode Island--- 63% PRO
      B.) Maine----          64% PRO
      C.) New Hampshire 66% PRO
      D.) Connetticutt     67% PRO
      E.) Vermont           70% PRO
      F.) Massachusetts   74% PRO

2.) Gay Marriage
     A.) Maine---   63% PRO
     B/C VT/CT---  67 % PRO
     D.) RI---        70% PRO
     E.) MA---       73% PRO
     F.)  NH----      75% PRO

3.) Support for greater gun restrictions....
     A.) NH--- 54%
     B.) ME--  55 % (Wide gap between ME-01 and ME-02 here)
     C.) VT---  59%
     D.) RI/MA/CT roughly between 62-67% depending upon CD

So if we look at abortion, gay marriage, and guns as the core parts of social conservatism, it appears that Maine places towards the top of all three categories....

The water is much muddier as for the 2nd / 3rd string contenders...

It definitely looks like Mass. is the least socially conservative state in New England on these issues, and if it wasn't for CT's relatively lackluster support for Gay Marriage, I would probably put at as the second most socially liberal state in New England....

Anyone want to chime in with some other metrics and themes of social conservatism that I didn't reference above based on public polling numbers by state?

Did you just make thise numbers up?

No... numbers regarding Abortion are from a Pew poll from 2014...

http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/compare/views-about-abortion/by/state/

Numbers regarding Gay Marriage is from a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) national survey from 2015.

http://www.prri.org/spotlight/map-every-states-opinion-on-same-sex-marriage/

You could look at the Williams Institute (UCLA ) survey by state from 2012 which shows a slightly different pattern, but one would surmise that on this issue as public attitudes have shifted dramatically in just the past few years, the most recent data would be more representative.

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/marriage-and-couples-rights/public-support-for-marriage-for-same-sex-couples-by-state/

The data on support/opposition for great gun restrictions is from July 2016, and is actually broken down by CD.

https://www.isidewith.com/map/2Y5/support-for-gun-control#z5

The abortion numbers are interesting, but they look a little too favorable to "legal" overall, when compared to Gallup's most of the time equivalent question.  Plus, there are a couple that look wrong at first glance, like Oklahoma and Nebraska being underwater.

These numbers come out to always/mostly legal +14, while others, such as CNN have it always/mostly illegal +18.  It really depends on the exact wording of the question.  Gallup has pro-life/pro-choice tied over the last couple years, so here is a map with these state numbers indexed to a tied nation:

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

http://religionnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PRRI-AVA-same-sex-marriage-1-RNS2-copy.jpg. http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-label-fig3.jpg On social issues, the Mountain West is not that conservative.

Yeah, I'm not sure what these maps are supposed to tell us. Generally, same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization and aid in dying aren't really THAT controversial issues in the Mountain States (again, that doesn't mean that people don't hold different views or aren't divided over these issues, but not many people really care about them), or at least not as much as in other parts of the country. While Montana is definitely majority pro-choice (then again, so is Wyoming, I believe), there is still a significant percentage of the population that is pretty pro-life, though you won't find as many single issue "pro-life" voters in MT as in... say... AL, obviously. It's probably fair to say that most Republican voters value a hands-off approach of the government more than anything else. But it's definitely not true that the state is as socially liberal as VA, especially when it comes to issues like abortion and gun rights.

Just compare these results...

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=30&year=2004&f=0&off=60&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=eade5505-b9a5-4604-aa7c-e8b578bfddf1

with these ones:

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=51&year=2006&f=0&off=50&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=09dfde52-e7c5-4c31-8ab1-126384d162b6

(Sorry, I wasn't able to find more data. Note that the SurveyUSA results are from 2005, and even back then VA was more liberal than MT. Now, the gap is much wider, I would assume. If I had to guess, I'd say MT is something like 54/46 pro-choice and VA 62/38, but I could be wrong.)

Also, TDAS is absolutely right that most people in the West live in urban areas, and those are generally much more liberal than the rural ones. This is a very important point that people often seem to forget, but it's not that complicated.

Here's what I figured out using someone's map in December on abortion (since nationwide pro-life/pro-choice polling is all over the place, I used the baseline of a 50-50 nation):

It depends upon one defines a social conservative, since like any other catchall phrase looses a lot of detail if it is bandied around without context.

If we look at a few keys subjects commonly considered part of the "social conservative" movement like Abortion Rights, Gay Marriage, and Gun restrictions we see a considerable amount of variation within the six states of New England....

From most socially conservative to less socially conservative:

1.) Abortion Rights
      A.) Rhode Island--- 63% PRO
      B.) Maine----          64% PRO
      C.) New Hampshire 66% PRO
      D.) Connetticutt     67% PRO
      E.) Vermont           70% PRO
      F.) Massachusetts   74% PRO

2.) Gay Marriage
     A.) Maine---   63% PRO
     B/C VT/CT---  67 % PRO
     D.) RI---        70% PRO
     E.) MA---       73% PRO
     F.)  NH----      75% PRO

3.) Support for greater gun restrictions....
     A.) NH--- 54%
     B.) ME--  55 % (Wide gap between ME-01 and ME-02 here)
     C.) VT---  59%
     D.) RI/MA/CT roughly between 62-67% depending upon CD

So if we look at abortion, gay marriage, and guns as the core parts of social conservatism, it appears that Maine places towards the top of all three categories....

The water is much muddier as for the 2nd / 3rd string contenders...

It definitely looks like Mass. is the least socially conservative state in New England on these issues, and if it wasn't for CT's relatively lackluster support for Gay Marriage, I would probably put at as the second most socially liberal state in New England....

Anyone want to chime in with some other metrics and themes of social conservatism that I didn't reference above based on public polling numbers by state?

Did you just make thise numbers up?

No... numbers regarding Abortion are from a Pew poll from 2014...

http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/compare/views-about-abortion/by/state/

Numbers regarding Gay Marriage is from a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) national survey from 2015.

http://www.prri.org/spotlight/map-every-states-opinion-on-same-sex-marriage/

You could look at the Williams Institute (UCLA ) survey by state from 2012 which shows a slightly different pattern, but one would surmise that on this issue as public attitudes have shifted dramatically in just the past few years, the most recent data would be more representative.

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/marriage-and-couples-rights/public-support-for-marriage-for-same-sex-couples-by-state/

The data on support/opposition for great gun restrictions is from July 2016, and is actually broken down by CD.

https://www.isidewith.com/map/2Y5/support-for-gun-control#z5

The abortion numbers are interesting, but they look a little too favorable to "legal" overall, when compared to Gallup's most of the time equivalent question.  Plus, there are a couple that look wrong at first glance, like Oklahoma and Nebraska being underwater.

These numbers come out to always/mostly legal +14, while others, such as CNN have it always/mostly illegal +18.  It really depends on the exact wording of the question.  Gallup has pro-life/pro-choice tied over the last couple years, so here is a map with these state numbers indexed to a tied nation:

Yeah, that shows something similar. Polling on Idaho is all over the place, and of course states change.

[NOVA Green]

http://religionnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PRRI-AVA-same-sex-marriage-1-RNS2-copy.jpg. http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-label-fig3.jpg On social issues, the Mountain West is not that conservative.

Yeah, I'm not sure what these maps are supposed to tell us. Generally, same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization and aid in dying aren't really THAT controversial issues in the Mountain States (again, that doesn't mean that people don't hold different views or aren't divided over these issues, but not many people really care about them), or at least not as much as in other parts of the country. While Montana is definitely majority pro-choice (then again, so is Wyoming, I believe), there is still a significant percentage of the population that is pretty pro-life, though you won't find as many single issue "pro-life" voters in MT as in... say... AL, obviously. It's probably fair to say that most Republican voters value a hands-off approach of the government more than anything else. But it's definitely not true that the state is as socially liberal as VA, especially when it comes to issues like abortion and gun rights.

Just compare these results...

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=30&year=2004&f=0&off=60&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=eade5505-b9a5-4604-aa7c-e8b578bfddf1

with these ones:

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=51&year=2006&f=0&off=50&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=09dfde52-e7c5-4c31-8ab1-126384d162b6

(Sorry, I wasn't able to find more data. Note that the SurveyUSA results are from 2005, and even back then VA was more liberal than MT. Now, the gap is much wider, I would assume. If I had to guess, I'd say MT is something like 54/46 pro-choice and VA 62/38, but I could be wrong.)

Also, TDAS is absolutely right that most people in the West live in urban areas, and those are generally much more liberal than the rural ones. This is a very important point that people often seem to forget, but it's not that complicated.

Here's what I figured out using someone's map in December on abortion (since nationwide pro-life/pro-choice polling is all over the place, I used the baseline of a 50-50 nation):

It depends upon one defines a social conservative, since like any other catchall phrase looses a lot of detail if it is bandied around without context.

If we look at a few keys subjects commonly considered part of the "social conservative" movement like Abortion Rights, Gay Marriage, and Gun restrictions we see a considerable amount of variation within the six states of New England....

From most socially conservative to less socially conservative:

1.) Abortion Rights
      A.) Rhode Island--- 63% PRO
      B.) Maine----          64% PRO
      C.) New Hampshire 66% PRO
      D.) Connetticutt     67% PRO
      E.) Vermont           70% PRO
      F.) Massachusetts   74% PRO

2.) Gay Marriage
     A.) Maine---   63% PRO
     B/C VT/CT---  67 % PRO
     D.) RI---        70% PRO
     E.) MA---       73% PRO
     F.)  NH----      75% PRO

3.) Support for greater gun restrictions....
     A.) NH--- 54%
     B.) ME--  55 % (Wide gap between ME-01 and ME-02 here)
     C.) VT---  59%
     D.) RI/MA/CT roughly between 62-67% depending upon CD

So if we look at abortion, gay marriage, and guns as the core parts of social conservatism, it appears that Maine places towards the top of all three categories....

The water is much muddier as for the 2nd / 3rd string contenders...

It definitely looks like Mass. is the least socially conservative state in New England on these issues, and if it wasn't for CT's relatively lackluster support for Gay Marriage, I would probably put at as the second most socially liberal state in New England....

Anyone want to chime in with some other metrics and themes of social conservatism that I didn't reference above based on public polling numbers by state?

Did you just make thise numbers up?

No... numbers regarding Abortion are from a Pew poll from 2014...

http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/compare/views-about-abortion/by/state/

Numbers regarding Gay Marriage is from a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) national survey from 2015.

http://www.prri.org/spotlight/map-every-states-opinion-on-same-sex-marriage/

You could look at the Williams Institute (UCLA ) survey by state from 2012 which shows a slightly different pattern, but one would surmise that on this issue as public attitudes have shifted dramatically in just the past few years, the most recent data would be more representative.

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/marriage-and-couples-rights/public-support-for-marriage-for-same-sex-couples-by-state/

The data on support/opposition for great gun restrictions is from July 2016, and is actually broken down by CD.

https://www.isidewith.com/map/2Y5/support-for-gun-control#z5

The abortion numbers are interesting, but they look a little too favorable to "legal" overall, when compared to Gallup's most of the time equivalent question.  Plus, there are a couple that look wrong at first glance, like Oklahoma and Nebraska being underwater.

These numbers come out to always/mostly legal +14, while others, such as CNN have it always/mostly illegal +18.  It really depends on the exact wording of the question.  Gallup has pro-life/pro-choice tied over the last couple years, so here is a map with these state numbers indexed to a tied nation:

Barry Goldwater's quote from '94 says it all...

Thanks Extreme Republican for pulling this up from a post that I had long since forgotten about, that just caught a few weeks later (today)!

Once again it reminds me why you are one of my favorite 'Pub avatars on the Forum, not to mention various other threads where we have collaborated on election results and the like.

Not too convinced on the Abortion numbers for WY, AZ, and NM, although it should be noted in the case of the former there is one of the highest % of LDS members outside of UT & ID. In the case of the latter, there is a much higher Catholic Population than elsewhere in the region, so that might well likely explain the opposition to abortion in those two states.

That being said----support for SSM is a majority opinion in almost all of the states of the Mountain West (Traditional 8 state def--- ID/MT/NV/UT/CO/AZ/NM/WY).

Now on Guns... it's pretty clear that even in solidly Democratic CDs in the Mountain West (And even in places like CD-04 and CD-05 in Oregon) there isn't a ton of support for dramatically restricting and over-regulating Gun ownership....

The Mountain West is "socially liberal" predominately from a Libertarian perspective.... We're not talking about the kooky Libertarian strain and conspiracies about reverting to the "Gold Standard", bizarre economic theories about how "The World Bank is trying to take over the world"....

Socially liberal in the sense that we don't like government getting into our business, dictating who we are having sex with based upon their religious ideology, and one of the most famous clips from the 2016 Libertarian Party convention, involved a candidate invoking his right to defend his marijuana plantation with machine guns if needed....

Now, once we remove Abortion, Gays, and Guns from the mix, what other barometers do we have to assess "socially liberal" areas vs "socially conservative areas"?

The Libertarian Movement transcends voting patterns and partisan ideology in many of the Mountain West States, and increasingly the vast majority of the population are now concentrated in larger cities, but still it's a very different bag that can't be easily defined as either socially liberal nor socially conservative. IMHO.

[vanguard96]

http://religionnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PRRI-AVA-same-sex-marriage-1-RNS2-copy.jpg. http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012-label-fig3.jpg On social issues, the Mountain West is not that conservative.

Yeah, I'm not sure what these maps are supposed to tell us. Generally, same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization and aid in dying aren't really THAT controversial issues in the Mountain States (again, that doesn't mean that people don't hold different views or aren't divided over these issues, but not many people really care about them), or at least not as much as in other parts of the country. While Montana is definitely majority pro-choice (then again, so is Wyoming, I believe), there is still a significant percentage of the population that is pretty pro-life, though you won't find as many single issue "pro-life" voters in MT as in... say... AL, obviously. It's probably fair to say that most Republican voters value a hands-off approach of the government more than anything else. But it's definitely not true that the state is as socially liberal as VA, especially when it comes to issues like abortion and gun rights.

Just compare these results...

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=30&year=2004&f=0&off=60&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=eade5505-b9a5-4604-aa7c-e8b578bfddf1

with these ones:

https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/state.php?fips=51&year=2006&f=0&off=50&elect=0
http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=09dfde52-e7c5-4c31-8ab1-126384d162b6

(Sorry, I wasn't able to find more data. Note that the SurveyUSA results are from 2005, and even back then VA was more liberal than MT. Now, the gap is much wider, I would assume. If I had to guess, I'd say MT is something like 54/46 pro-choice and VA 62/38, but I could be wrong.)

Also, TDAS is absolutely right that most people in the West live in urban areas, and those are generally much more liberal than the rural ones. This is a very important point that people often seem to forget, but it's not that complicated.

Here's what I figured out using someone's map in December on abortion (since nationwide pro-life/pro-choice polling is all over the place, I used the baseline of a 50-50 nation):

It depends upon one defines a social conservative, since like any other catchall phrase looses a lot of detail if it is bandied around without context.

If we look at a few keys subjects commonly considered part of the "social conservative" movement like Abortion Rights, Gay Marriage, and Gun restrictions we see a considerable amount of variation within the six states of New England....

From most socially conservative to less socially conservative:

1.) Abortion Rights
      A.) Rhode Island--- 63% PRO
      B.) Maine----          64% PRO
      C.) New Hampshire 66% PRO
      D.) Connetticutt     67% PRO
      E.) Vermont           70% PRO
      F.) Massachusetts   74% PRO

2.) Gay Marriage
     A.) Maine---   63% PRO
     B/C VT/CT---  67 % PRO
     D.) RI---        70% PRO
     E.) MA---       73% PRO
     F.)  NH----      75% PRO

3.) Support for greater gun restrictions....
     A.) NH--- 54%
     B.) ME--  55 % (Wide gap between ME-01 and ME-02 here)
     C.) VT---  59%
     D.) RI/MA/CT roughly between 62-67% depending upon CD

So if we look at abortion, gay marriage, and guns as the core parts of social conservatism, it appears that Maine places towards the top of all three categories....

The water is much muddier as for the 2nd / 3rd string contenders...

It definitely looks like Mass. is the least socially conservative state in New England on these issues, and if it wasn't for CT's relatively lackluster support for Gay Marriage, I would probably put at as the second most socially liberal state in New England....

Anyone want to chime in with some other metrics and themes of social conservatism that I didn't reference above based on public polling numbers by state?

Did you just make thise numbers up?

No... numbers regarding Abortion are from a Pew poll from 2014...

http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/compare/views-about-abortion/by/state/

Numbers regarding Gay Marriage is from a Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) national survey from 2015.

http://www.prri.org/spotlight/map-every-states-opinion-on-same-sex-marriage/

You could look at the Williams Institute (UCLA ) survey by state from 2012 which shows a slightly different pattern, but one would surmise that on this issue as public attitudes have shifted dramatically in just the past few years, the most recent data would be more representative.

http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/marriage-and-couples-rights/public-support-for-marriage-for-same-sex-couples-by-state/

The data on support/opposition for great gun restrictions is from July 2016, and is actually broken down by CD.

https://www.isidewith.com/map/2Y5/support-for-gun-control#z5

The abortion numbers are interesting, but they look a little too favorable to "legal" overall, when compared to Gallup's most of the time equivalent question.  Plus, there are a couple that look wrong at first glance, like Oklahoma and Nebraska being underwater.

These numbers come out to always/mostly legal +14, while others, such as CNN have it always/mostly illegal +18.  It really depends on the exact wording of the question.  Gallup has pro-life/pro-choice tied over the last couple years, so here is a map with these state numbers indexed to a tied nation:

Generally gun restriction is more of an authoritarian measure - definitely NOT socially liberal in the sense of marijuana legalization or gay marriage.

[Senator-elect Spark]

Not very religious