Talk Elections

I've noticed that Indiana's politics are rather different than her midwest neighbours to the right (swinging Ohio) and to the left (Democratic Illiniois). Is there any particular reason for this?

I see Democratic Senator Evan Bayh should easily win re-election and it has plumped for Democratic governors of late. I'd have thought the state would be more competitive than safe Republican.

Dave

Indiana is the only state not to speak officially English in the US. so their politics is very unique.

Do they widely speak another language? I know that that they are nicknamed 'Hoosiers'. Does that have anything to do with it?

Dave

When i was in Indianapolis i discovered that the state language is American!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats why i love the way when you say to Americans that your counry is Imperialistic they scream outrage.

Being one that works with British nationals, there is a big difference between European English and American English.  I don't think there is anything wrong with saying we speak "American."  But then of course, we can never seem to pass the amendment stating that "English" is our national language.

This is a good question.  I would also like to know why Indiana is so Republican.  It borders KY true, but also Illinois and Michigan?  Anyone from Indiana who can explain?

I used to live in Indiana and one reason might be that the people like things simple in the state.  Liberals make things really complex in their plans (healthcare for one, mainly to hide the real socialist plan behind it).  The people really hate tax raises as well.  

Indiana is very interesting, I have always wondered why it is so different than any state close to it, except Kentucky. Indiana probably has a higher population of rural voters and surburban voters than Ohio which could help the GOP there. There isnt a lot of urban area outside of Indianapolis.

Indiana also is one of the very few states not to have the dreaded "Daylight Savings Time" A lot of their counties have opted out of that.  That's done b/c farmers hate DST (the chickens get up at sunrise regardless of what the US Government declares to be the time).  My guess is that the state is very rural  and as others have posted, the rural areas tend to be very Republican.  

I don't know anything about Indiana really, but when this came up earlier several posters have pointed to the fact that Indiana is very rural, there basically aren't any big Democratic cities like in other Midwestern states. The idea is that rural areas in the Midwest are more or less the same though.

Also, it might be interesting to note that Indiana has always been more Southern than its neighbours. It's had a strong Klan presence for a long time I believe and also tended to swing with the Democrats on many occasions back in the 19th century.

If we break Indiana into rough geo-political regions:

Gary-Hammond

A blue collar (more steel is made in Lake County than any other part of the U.S), heavily unionised area and by far the most Democratic part of Indiana

South Bend-Elkhart

The South Bend area is very "ethnic" (the largest Hungarian Community in the U.S is in the area) and fairly Blue Collar, while Elkhart is solidly Republican. Overall the region swings about *a lot*

Fort Wayne

With the exception of a few blue collar districts in Fort Wayne itself, Fort Wayne (along with it's suburbs) is a GOP stronghold (and has been since the Civil War)

The Corn Belt

Sterotypical Indiana: lots of farms and small towns, "rednecks", religious zealots... The Cornbelt covers most of the state and is the backbone of the Indiana GOP (and has been Republican since the Civil War).

Indianapolis and Suburbs

While Indianapolis itself leans Democrat, the wealthy suburbs of Indianapolis are the most Republican parts of the state with several counties voting for Bush with over 70% of the vote.

Muncie

The "Middletown" area is fairly centrist and tends to swing around a bit... (Clinton in '96, Bush in '00) it also has a quirky independent streak (Perot did well in the Muncie area in '92)

Indiana Coalfield

Basically an extension of the Southern Illinois Coalfield, the area includes Vermillion County (after Lake, the most reliably Democratic county in Indiana) and overall leans Democrat. The largest City (Terre Haute) is a traditional hotbed of Populism.

Ohio Valley

A traditional swing area, the Ohio Valley tends to be socially conservative and economically leftist and has a habit of producing large swings without little warning.
Democrats often do well in the (very) blue collar counties in the Southeast of the area.

Every person i know from Indiana has a "southern" accent for some reason.

Indiana voted for the Democratic candidate in the presidential elections of 1876, 1884 and 1892. Note that Indiana thus voted for the losing Samuel Tilden. It remained a swing state hovering about the national average for many decades and voted for Wilson in 1916.

Get off this board troll

Indiana = Illinois minus Chicago.

The reason Indiana is heavily Republican is due to the absense of urban areas.
Indianapolis and Gary are easily outvoted by the suburbs, small towns are rural areas.

The only reason Illinois is heavily Democratic is because of Chicago.

Gary-Hammond is more democratic not because of unions, but because of the high volume of African Americans living there.  
Indianapolis the city is lean democrat like you said, but in a comfortable margin say 4-5pts, Bush could sweep the downtown area and democrat Julia Carsons district.  As in Gary, Indianapolis city has a large African American population.  Southward in Bloomington, the college town, is where you'll find the most progressive part of Indiana.  The city claimed itself "gay friendly" and started promoting "gay tourism" to the area.

While Gary is heavily Democrat, the rest of the area isn't (black pop. of Lake County is 25%) and is strongly Democrat because of Union ties.


Black pop. of Indianapolis City: 25%


Bloomington doesn't really fit anywhere...

The nicest (?) thing I can say about Bloomington is that my ex lives there.  hahaha . . . outside of that, the campus of Indiana University is quite beautiful.  With that being the issue, the town is relatively dead for 3 months of the year, along with the economy.  However, there is a modern business sector forming right on the interstate.  Last time I was there, I counted about 8 4+ story office buildings being built, as well as a decent commercial sector.  I will say in about 10 years, Bloomington will be a MAJOR business hub in the region.

I agree. I would add also IN = western OH minus Toledo. Though western OH lacks the coal area of southern IL/IN. The corridor including Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus share many social and political similarities.

No, every Hoosier you have met does not have a Southern accent 8) ;)

Naw.


That's our adjective for 'person from Indiana' :)

We're special, because no one knows exactly where the nickname came from *spooky noises*

What can be more simple than 'the government pays for your healthcare' :D :D :D

OH, I know.  You can pay my taxes.  :)  That'll be simple for me.  hehehe

A short, but essentially accurate summary ;)

Brevity is the soul of wit.

I salute you sir !

A lot of people say that Indiana is conservative/Republican because of its rural-ness, but actually many states are more rural and less Republican than Indiana (including Midwestern states such as Minn., Iowa, and Wisc.)

Perhaps Indiana is Republican because it has relatively few ethnic whites, Hispanics, or Asians.

Actually there are a ton of Hispanics in Indianapolis and the city is becoming Little Mexico.  A street I frequented as a kid turned from vintage 50s style to the ugly and beaten down Hispanic shops like we have here in Arizona in the ghetto parts of town.  And I wouldnt assume Asians are very democratic, it depends on where they are at.  The vote swings either way with Asians.  You are right about ethnic whites, unless you count the Amish, who vote republican.

If the Chicago suburbs voted heavily Republican like their Indianapolis surbubs do, then the Chicago effect would be negated. Other than that, your analysis is spot on.

Yes, conservatives have simple minds.

Make them.

Samuel Tilden didn't really "lose".

Minnesota has the twin cities and the Duluth/Northeast area, all of which are heavily Democratic. These can and do outvote the rural and suburban regions
Iowa has Des Moines and blue collar cities such as Davenport and Iowa City.
Wisconsin has the liberal bastion of Madison, plus Milwaukee.
Indiana basically just has a small, but very deprived city, Gary, and urban Indianapolis.
WI & MN are not quite as rural in that there is a large liberal urban element in both. IA is probably as rural as Indiana, however it has a smattering of industrial, blue collar towns, which Indiana doesn't have. Basically the Democratic elements in Indiana are massively outvoted. I'm sure if Indianapolis doubled in size the state would be safely Democrat.

Bloomington doesn't actually have an Interstate highway nearby, but your point is still taken. :)

hahaha . . . well, it was a 6-laned road.  Thought it was an interstate (wasn't driving).  :)

What makes Indiana unique (most of it's political regions are spill-overs from other states, the Indiana Coalfield is very like the Illinois Coalfield, the Ohio Valley spans several states and has similer politics all over, as does the Cornbelt) is the ultra-GOP suburbs of Indianapolis

Both Indiana senators Lugar (R) and Bayh (D), despite a partisan divide, seem to be very popular incumbents, who command much bipartisan support.

Dave

Indiana city populations:

1 Indianapolis-781,870
2 Fort Wayne-205,727
3 Evansville-121,582
4 South Bend-107,789
5 Gary-102,746

However... (Indiana county populations):

1 Marion (Indianapolis) 860,454
2 Lake (Gary) 484,564
3  Allen  (Fort Wayne)  331,849
4 St. Joseph (South Bend)  265,559
5 Elkhart  (Elkhart)  182,791
...
7 Vanderburgh (Evansville) 171,922

Well...he lost in the sense that he did not become president. But, yes, he was out-cheated by the Republicans, if that's what you mean... :)

I spent some time in Downtown Indianapolis 2 years ago while attending a conference.  I was amazed at the conservative feel of the downtown area (compared to any other big city downtown I have been to.)

I saw very little:

-anarchist type people
-evidence of a strong gay community.
-public indecency
-alternative lifestyle/weird hippy stuff.  You know the shops, street vendors, etc..

And a lot of:

-churches
-families
-clean streets.


As a lifelong west coaster (spent most of childhood in Portland and Eugene) it was stange for me to see a city this large with such a conservative feel.

No wonder the state is so conservative.

Also, in response to other posts, Muncie, Anderson, and Ft. Wayne are big-time blue-collar towns.  They each have huge GM factories.  But they are still Republican.

It's just a conservative state.

But it's a nice white-picket-fence-and-nicely-mowed-lawns conservative place, not a guns-and-low-laxes-let's-kill-the-poor place.

And the locals are all so friendly :)

*obsession is fun! ;)*

Well, I wouldn't say that I speak "American", but a legit point could be made that American English might be distinct enough from British English to almost be considered a different language.  Dutch, German and Swiss are all very similar as are , but are differnt languages none the less.  Perhapes, given 20-50 years there will be enough differences for distict seperation.

Ft. Wayne is (for historical reasons mostly) Republican (though some blue collar/ethnic parts of the City lean Dem. The suburbs are ultra-Republican) and "Middletown" proper leans Dem (though the county it's in swings about a lot)

Muncie's also got a pretty liberal uni, don't know how large it is. Once met a professor from there.

Ball State Uni IIRC

I forgot the name.

It's mainly this. Ohio has Akron; Dayton; Youngstown; Cleveland; Colombus; Cincinatti, while Illinois has Chicago, which comprises 2/3 of the state. In contrast, Indianapolis proper is just 10% of the population, and so is northwest Indiana/Lake County (the part of Chicagoland spilling inton Indiana). The suburbs of Indianapolis are pretty conservative, and while (as of 2020) they are liberalizing somewhat, they are by no means strongholds. Indiana is mainly a rural/suburban state, and the Democratic areas (Indianapolis / Marion County; Northwest Indiana / Lake County) aren't that liberal, either. Indiana's 1st (home to Northwest Indiana) has trended more Republican in the age of Trump; it's now just D+1. And Indiana's 7th (Indianapolis) isn't a Democratic stronghold (or at least not as liberal as Chicago) either; it gave Andre Carson a 25-point victory in 2020, which is pretty good but not good enough given that the rest of Indiana is pretty Republican.

How Latino is Marion County now?

Parts of this analysis are no longer true. Lake County is no longer the most Democratic area in Indiana; that status is now owned by Marion County. The Gary area has trended substantively to the right in recent years. Democrats have completely collapsed in the Coalfield and Ohio Valley, both of which are now Safe R, and the "Middletown" area is now Safe R as well. Indianapolis is now a Safe D city, and the suburbs of Indianapolis (Hamilton County) are no longer the most Republican region of the state; the Cornbelt holds that status. Hamilton County could even flip Democratic in the next decade if current trends continue.

How much of Indianapolis proper is basically suburban in form?  I know there was a city-county merger (in the 70s I think).

About 11%

White (Non Hispanic) 54%
Black 29 %
Hispanic 11%
Asian 4%

I'm guessing that that's higher in select parts of the city.

Has it happened yet?

SAMPLE RESPONSE:

Indiana is a much more rural state than its neighbours (excluding KY, of course). Michigan and Illinois are anchored by Detroit and Chicago, respectively, while Ohio is home to a conglomerite of cities, small and large (the three big C's - Cincinatti, Cleveland and Columbus - plus Youngstown, Toledo, Dayton, Akron, etc.). Pennsylvania is home to the sprawling and gigantic Philadelphia metropolitan area, as well as the smaller Pittsburgh. In contrast, Indiana has just Indianapolis and a collection of cities in Northwest Indiana that are really just a continuation of Chicagoland, the portion of Chicago that spills into the Hoosier State. Kentucky, similar politically to Indiana, similarly only has one or two big cities (Louisville and Lexington) plus a continuation of a metropolitan area from another state (a part of Northeastern Kentucky is home to the south suburbs of Cincinatti, Ohio). The congressional districts of these states explain it: Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia are all declining in population (either literally declining in population or comparative to the nation), leading to all their states (OH, IL, MI, and PA) losing a district each in 2020, while KY and IN, with stable or increasing rural and urban populations, have retained all their districts (six in Kentucky and nine in Indiana). But still, all four of the aforementioned, big-city states, have many more districts than KY and IN (again, following the 2020 census, KY still has six and IN still has nine - but OH has fifteen, MI thirteen, and IL and PA seventeen). New York, though it doesn't border Indiana, is similar to OH, PA, IL and MI in that way, since it's anchored by New York City, which has stagnated in population, leading to it losing a district while still holding many, many more than most other states, with a whopping 26 districts still retained.

Less than 5 seconds between recommends, can you actually read that quickly?

Wayne Township ( just west of downtown to the Hendricks county line including speedway) is about 1/4 Hispanic but is still plurality white. The above poster seems to have driven along Washington street a few miles west of downtown where there is a concentration of Hispanic businesses. Evan that area is only plurality Hispanic. Indianapolis is still a pretty white city, with a large black minority and comparatively small Hispanic and Asian majorities. Pike township (northwest corner) is plurality black, but the western edge (eagle creek and traders point) is a mostly white extremely affluent area. Every other township is majority or plurality white.

Sometimes I make the mistake of forgetting to recommend a few posts while reading, so I go back and get them later  ;]

No.