Alabama democratic vote in gubernatorial election

[jman123]

Why did Ron Sparks do respectable in Alabama rural areas compared to 14 and 18. Ron sparks overperformed in alabama despite being the obama era. He obviously lost but what explains his overperformance especially in white rural areas?

[Adam Griffin]

1) He was the incumbent Ag Comm (a very powerful and respected position in AL)
2) He was from North AL and likely overperformed as a result
3) The last gasp of the Dixiecrats and Blue Dogs' influence was probably felt in that election (similar to why Dems did so well in SC-GOV in 2010 as well)

[Alabama_Indy10]

Ron Sparks was the incumbent Ag. Commissioner and pretty well known statewide. As far as I know he was pretty popular and was the best that the Dems could have done. I believe his high name recognition statewide contributed to this as well as gaining a pretty large amount of support among Blue Dogs (which there were still many of in Alabama).

[smoltchanov]

Well, in fact there is no BIG difference (percentagewise) between 2010 and 2018 elections:

2010: Bentley - 57.58%, Sparks - 41.87%
2018: Ivey: 59.46%, Maddox: 40.39%

About 1.5-2%. Very stable and unelastic electorate. But i have a question about the "fate" of these 2010-Blue Dogs. Are they "Red Dogs" now or what?

[DINGO Joe]

Well, in fact there is no BIG difference (percentagewise) between 2010 and 2018 elections:

2010: Bentley - 57.58%, Sparks - 41.87%
2018: Ivey: 59.46%, Maddox: 40.39%

About 1.5-2%. Very stable and unelastic electorate. But i have a question about the "fate" of these 2010-Blue Dogs. Are they "Red Dogs" now or what?

In the aggregate, inelastic, but huge shifts in metro/educated areas vs rural.  Yeah, the blue dogs are red now, though they're old and disabled too.  Rural areas have no viable workforce, if they have something going on workwise, then a bunch of hispanics magically show up.  That's how things work in rural America these days.

[smoltchanov]

Well, in fact there is no BIG difference (percentagewise) between 2010 and 2018 elections:

2010: Bentley - 57.58%, Sparks - 41.87%
2018: Ivey: 59.46%, Maddox: 40.39%

About 1.5-2%. Very stable and unelastic electorate. But i have a question about the "fate" of these 2010-Blue Dogs. Are they "Red Dogs" now or what?

In the aggregate, inelastic, but huge shifts in metro/educated areas vs rural.  Yeah, the blue dogs are red now, though they're old and disabled too.  Rural areas have no viable workforce, if they have something going on workwise, then a bunch of hispanics magically show up.  That's how things work in rural America these days.

Thanks! That's what i expected...