Most liberal and conservative states

[ottermax]

I think that the most liberal state as a whole is Vermont. Other notable contenders include Hawaii and Massachusetts.

The most conservatives state is probably Oklahoma, although it's a bit of a tie with Utah. I feel that Utah might be one of the few states where a large amount of the population is both fiscally and socially conservative. Texas is also similar. OK seems to have quite a lot of populism like the Deep South/Miss. River Valley.

[tmthforu94]

~Most Conservative~
In Order
Utah
Wyoming
Idaho
Alabama
Oklahoma
Kansas
South Dakota
Louisiana
Tennessee
Kentucky
Alaska
West Virginia
Texas
Indiana

~Most Liberal~
Vermont
Massachusetts
New York
California
Rhode Island
Connecticut
Maryland

[Matt Damon™]

Of course it is.  Where else do you see men holding hands with no even staring at them?  You don't see that in Vermont!

NYC and southern Connecticut are very liberal.

You've never been to upstate NY have you?

[hcallega]

It's interesting to see what we consider conservative and liberal. For instance, upstate NY is by no means liberal, while most of NYC is far-left. Yet because of the size of the liberal urban areas, the state votes solidly DEM. When we look at Massachusetts, there is actually more diversity then you guys seem to think. Even within Boston there is much division: You have the Harvard and MIT intellectuals who are very socially liberal (though more economically libertarian), but you also have the blue-collar southies who are some of the most reliable Democratic voters in the country who would not consider themselves to be liberal (they have yet to elect a pro-choice congressman). If we look at the old Yankee GOP, many of those are actually more liberal than the working class Democrats in South Boston (and the Irish Suburbs) and Springfield.  What would be interesting would be to average out the lib/conservative ratings for all of the congressmen in a state, and then see how the list might change. Of course ole Bernie Sanders in Vermont might swing that state quite a bit to the left!!!

I've decided to make a top ten social liberal, economic liberal, social conservative, and economic conservative instead.

Social Liberal
1-Vermont
2-Rhode Island
3-Hawaii
4-Connecticut
5-Massachusetts
6-Maryland
7-California
8-Minnesota
9-Oregon
10-New York

Economic Liberal
1-Massachusetts
2-New York
3-Maryland
4-West Virginia
5-Michigan
6-Wisconsin
7-Rhode Island
8-Vermont
9-California
10-Illinois

Social Conservative
1-Utah
2-Oklahoma
3-Mississippi
4-Louisiana
5-Alabama
6-Texas
7-Wyoming
8-Idaho
9-North Dakota
10-South Carolina
Economic Conservative
1-Texas
2-Idaho
3-Wyoming
4-Utah
5-New Hampshire
6-Oklahoma
7-Arizona
8-South Carolina
9-Alaska
10-Connecticut

[Matt Damon™]

Nice lists but why not rank all 50 states by your schemes?

[Husker]

It's interesting to see what we consider conservative and liberal. For instance, upstate NY is by no means liberal, while most of NYC is far-left. Yet because of the size of the liberal urban areas, the state votes solidly DEM. When we look at Massachusetts, there is actually more diversity then you guys seem to think. Even within Boston there is much division: You have the Harvard and MIT intellectuals who are very socially liberal (though more economically libertarian), but you also have the blue-collar southies who are some of the most reliable Democratic voters in the country who would not consider themselves to be liberal (they have yet to elect a pro-choice congressman). If we look at the old Yankee GOP, many of those are actually more liberal than the working class Democrats in South Boston (and the Irish Suburbs) and Springfield.  What would be interesting would be to average out the lib/conservative ratings for all of the congressmen in a state, and then see how the list might change. Of course ole Bernie Sanders in Vermont might swing that state quite a bit to the left!!!

I've decided to make a top ten social liberal, economic liberal, social conservative, and economic conservative instead.

Social Liberal
1-Vermont
2-Rhode Island
3-Hawaii
4-Connecticut
5-Massachusetts
6-Maryland
7-California
8-Minnesota
9-Oregon
10-New York

Economic Liberal
1-Massachusetts
2-New York
3-Maryland
4-West Virginia
5-Michigan
6-Wisconsin
7-Rhode Island
8-Vermont
9-California
10-Illinois

Social Conservative
1-Utah
2-Oklahoma
3-Mississippi
4-Louisiana
5-Alabama
6-Texas
7-Wyoming
8-Idaho
9-North Dakota
10-South Carolina
Economic Conservative
1-Texas
2-Idaho
3-Wyoming
4-Utah
5-New Hampshire
6-Oklahoma
7-Arizona
8-South Carolina
9-Alaska
10-Connecticut

Pretty good lists. I would argue that the Deep South and southern plains are more socially conservative than Utah. You are also spot on when you mention that there are many blue-collar democrats who aren't  particularly liberal on social issues. Likewise, there are many republicans that may be quite moderate overall and liberal on social issues, but vote republican because their job is greatly helped by the republican party- or so they think. I am quite liberal by today's standards for the GOP and sometimes vote democrat (like Obama) or 3rd party but remain a republican because I believe in the Rockefeller-type republican values just a bit more than the values of the modern democratic party. Anyway, my point is that I agree with you that republican and democratic voting doesn't necessarily imply conservatism and liberalism.

[justfollowingtheelections]

Of course it is.  Where else do you see men holding hands with no even staring at them?  You don't see that in Vermont!

NYC and southern Connecticut are very liberal.

You've never been to upstate NY have you?

Why would I (no offense of course)?  Also to say that the state of New York is not liberal when the majority of the population lives in an extremely liberal city is just wrong.

[humder]

This is what it says on the charts in Chuck Todd's book:

States with the highest proportion of liberals
D.C-46%
Vermont-32%
New York-31%
Massachusetts-31%
Connecticut-29%
Hawaii-28%
Rhode Island-28%
Washington-27%
Maine-27%
Maryland-26%
Minnesota-26%
New Hampshire-26%

States with the highest proportion of conservatives
Mississippi-49%
Utah-48%
Alabama-47%
Texas-46%
Arkansas-45%
Tennessee-44%
Idaho-43%
Louisiana-42%
South Carolina-40%
Georgia-39%
Wyoming-39%
Alaska-39%
Kentucky-39%
Oklahoma-39%

States with the highest proportion of Moderates
Maryland-53%
New Jersey-50%
Delaware-50%
Pennsylvania-50%
South Dakota-50%
Massachusetts-49%
Hawaii-48%
Illinois-48%
West Virginia-48%
Nebraska-48%
North Dakota-48%
Georgia-48%

[Raoul]

Of course it is.  Where else do you see men holding hands with no even staring at them?  You don't see that in Vermont!

NYC and southern Connecticut are very liberal.

You've never been to upstate NY have you?

Why would I (no offense of course)?  Also to say that the state of New York is not liberal when the majority of the population lives in an extremely liberal city is just wrong.

unempprof has a point, that's like not classifying Texas as economic conservative because of the Latino population, which no one is doing.

[TeePee4Prez]

I really don't listen to "liberal" and "conservative" any more... as long as people have been asked how they identify, they usually are 50% to say that they are conservative.... even in the 60s.

In order to get a good picture, look at state laws  and court rulings on controversial issues and what polling is in that state on many of the issues at hand.  I mean, a state that is 60% in favor of some significant form of abortion rights may still be 60% in favor of forced repatriation of  all non-white undocumenteds and be a right-to-work state on top of that.

I disagree.  If we relied on laws to identify conservatives and liberals, we would have to use our own definition of conservatism (or liberalism) which might be subjective.  Also, laws are made by state lawmakers, who while voted by the people do not always do what the people want.

Then again, most states allow laws to be referred and we do have to find definitions for liberalism and conservatism. Those terms mean nothing without any form of definition. I guess what you could do is look at all the liberal and conservative rankings for the states. NARAL ranks states from A to F, for example.

NARAL ratings are a poor indicator.  WV has a good rating, but is polled as one of the most anti-abortion states in the country.  PA has a horrendously low F, yet it's populace falls smack in the middle on the polling end.  That's because WV has Democratic favored districting, while PA has Republican favored districting hence the laws aren't properly reflective of the people's views in either state.  The reasoning behind PA's laws is Democrats in the "T" are typically anti-abortion and the Southeast Republicans that still have some sway have only a few pro-choice members.  If PA actually had referendums/propositions like other states, you bet most of Bob Casey Sr.'s 1990 Abortion Control Act other than the partial birth provisions would be dismantled.  And I know who will argue with me, but look at South Dakota.  If they defeated similar provisions, you know PA will.   

[Keystone Phil]

The reasoning behind PA's laws is Democrats in the "T" are typically anti-abortion

It's not just there. Your theories aside (about how many Dems - especially in our area - are on Pro Life because they "wrongly" fear backlash), this state has a very Pro Life legislature.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

What's with the idea that Minnesota is more liberal socially than economically? (Note the above list). There's nothing notably socially liberal about Minnesota. We don't even have civil unions. Probably coming in at least a decade, but we aren't there yet. Plus we're one of only three states that requires women be informed of a completely bullsh!t claim of a link between abortion and breast cancer, granted that's a huge fluke, some GOP state legislators managed to sneak that into a larger bill, but still. Minnesota is hardly socially conservative, but there's nothing socially liberal about the state that's as notable as our tax rates. Anyone calling Minnesota "libertarian" by any definition really ought to take a look at our tax code by the way and see just how idiotic that statement is.

And besides, do you think northeastern Minnesota and those counties in the west are voting Democratic on social issues?

[TeePee4Prez]

The reasoning behind PA's laws is Democrats in the "T" are typically anti-abortion

It's not just there. Your theories aside (about how many Dems - especially in our area - are on Pro Life because they "wrongly" fear backlash), this state has a very Pro Life legislature.

Largely the T and West.  I know there are even pro-choice Repubs like Juberlier in the T, but that wasn't my point.  I know the PA legislature is very pro-life, but my point is it's not the will of the state at large.  I was saying how NARAL ratings aren't a good indicator of how the people feel on social issues and the PA legislature with it's gerrymandering proves it.

It's also unfortunate that crap like the Abortion Control Act isn't put up for a referendum like it would be in other states.  You and I both know most of it's draconian provisions (i.e. husband notification) would be soundly defeated if that were to ever happen.

[Keystone Phil]

The reasoning behind PA's laws is Democrats in the "T" are typically anti-abortion

It's not just there. Your theories aside (about how many Dems - especially in our area - are on Pro Life because they "wrongly" fear backlash), this state has a very Pro Life legislature.

Largely the T and West.

What does that matter? Most members are Pro Life. It doesn't matter where they're from.

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I think it's a lot closer than you think.

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Spare us of the talking points/rhetoric, please. Some of us find the procedure barbaric but I'm not getting into a policy debate with you on this so, again, take it easy.

And they might be defeated but I doubt that it would be soundly. Polls on the abortion issue here are often show a very close split.

[Husker]

The only states I would see abortion bans passing in would be OK, AR, WV, KY, MS, and AL. The other states are too urban or are moderate/liberal enough on the issue not to ban it. Also, state legislatures (particularly in this region) tend to be more pro-life than the citizens. South Dakota's legislature has twice tried to eliminate it and twice it failed when put to a vote of the people. I think Philly and its suburbs would squash any hopes of a similar ban passing in PA.

[TeePee4Prez]

The only states I would see abortion bans passing in would be OK, AR, WV, KY, MS, and AL. The other states are too urban or are moderate/liberal enough on the issue not to ban it. Also, state legislatures (particularly in this region) tend to be more pro-life than the citizens. South Dakota's legislature has twice tried to eliminate it and twice it failed when put to a vote of the people. I think Philly and its suburbs would squash any hopes of a similar ban passing in PA.

I'd add Louisiana favoring a ban.  Two more states with misrepresented legislatures on the choice issue along with PA- MI and OH.  I think if it went to a vote many of their existing laws would be off the books as well.

With PA, not only the Southeast, but also smaller enclaves such as Harrisburg and State College as well.  Interestingly that where Obama made a lot of his gains to offset his losses in Murtha-land.

[Alcon]

Most liberal - Vermont
Most conservative - Texas

Not Massachusetts and Utah?

You asked conservative/liberal rather than Republican and Democratic.  Vermont is most likely the most "liberal" state with extreme liberals and Texas is the most "conservative" due to the economic populism of most other Republican strongholds

Utah is actually quite economically conservative.  The Mormons have a fierce pride in their internalized welfare system.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Probably the more liberal state is Vermont. The more conservative... maybe Utah or Alabama.