Do poor people tend to vote more Republican or more Democrat?

[A18]

...

[Alcon]

Democrat. Duh.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Here's the exit poll data from the 2004 election:

Under $15,000 (8%)
Bush  36%
Kerry  63%   

$15-30,000 (15%)
Bush  42%
Kerry  57%

$30-50,000 (22%)
Bush  49%
Kerry  50% 

$50-75,000 (23%)
Bush  56%
Kerry  43%   

$75-100,000 (14%)
Bush  55%
Kerry  45%   

$100-150,000 (11%)
Bush  57%
Kerry  42%

$150-200,000 (4%)
Bush  58%
Kerry  42%

$200,000 or More (3%)
Bush  63%
Kerry  35%


So it looks like Democrats do better as income decreases.  Not sure if this trend would hold if you held race constant.

[bgwah]

Democrat, but "moral" issues have caused many to vote against their economic issues, whether its poor voting Bush or rich voting Kerry.

[danwxman]

Democrat, but "moral" issues have caused many to vote against their economic issues, whether its poor voting Bush or rich voting Kerry.

The rural poor, which used to go heavily Democrat....went big for Bush based on social issues. West Virginia is the classic example of this.

[??????????]

Democrat, but "moral" issues have caused many to vote against their economic issues, whether its poor voting Bush or rich voting Kerry.

Sometimes moral issues supersede economic issues. Democrats don't understand this and that's why they are out of touch.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Not sure if this trend would hold if you held race constant.

I don't see the logic of doing that

[Will F.D. People]

And some poor people (my mother was one of them) believe that the best way out of poverty is through a vibrant economy, and that the Republicans' policies have a better chance of achieving that.

[angus]

Not sure if this trend would hold if you held race constant.

I don't see the logic of doing that

There is none, and race tends to screw everything up.  For example, it's often used to show conclusively that Bush voters have higher intelligence quotients (IQ) than Kerry voters:  101.6 vs 98.1 I think.  But of course that's what you get since the average IQ of a white person is 103, of an asian is 106, of a black person is 89, and of a latino is 86.  When you collect IQ data, and distribute it among exit-polling data in a weighted average way, you can pretty much make any argument you want.  But then you already know this, so on the question of income, you could segregate each racial category by income, and find that there may be a greater propensity for rich asians, for example, to support Kerry than poor asians.  This may also hold for latinos.  My guess is that among the white and black categories, you'd still find that it is generally the case that the richer the voter, the more likely he's a Bush voter than a Kerry voter.  This is all speculation, though, as I haven't seen this type of detailed (by race and income cross-tabulated) data.  No reason to really, since within the context of this thread it isn't relevant.

[A18]

And so it's Bush voters subsidizing Alabama, and jfern can quit whining.

[Democratic Hawk]

Well, I'd say the poorest vote Democratic; however, there are many 'poor' whites who vote Republican

Dave

[Hitchabrut]

They vote more Democratic, but so do the richest. The Republican's strongest income group is probably upper-middle class.

[iosip]

however, there are many 'poor' whites who vote Republican

Dave

i don't know any.

[Alcon]

however, there are many 'poor' whites who vote Republican

Dave

i don't know any.

iosip, the state of West Virginia. The state of West Virginia, iosip.

[iosip]

iosip, the state of West Virginia. The state of West Virginia, iosip.

i'm from very close to west virginia...it is only the "exurban" (rich) types who vote gop. they tend to be the kids of energy execs and such.

the people who do the actual WORK are all democratic.

[??????????]

Yes Bandit, we know.

[Alcon]

iosip, the state of West Virginia. The state of West Virginia, iosip.

i'm from very close to west virginia...it is only the "exurban" (rich) types who vote gop. they tend to be the kids of energy execs and such.

the people who do the actual WORK are all democratic.

The highest average income in West Virginia is in Jefferson County, at $13,249. The lowest is in Clay County, at $6,772.

West Virginia is a poor state - nearly everywhere.

Bush won it by 13 points. There aren't enough rich people in West Virginia to provide a win like that.

[iosip]

Yes Bandit, we know.

...says StatesBlights.

[iosip]

Bush won it by 13 points. There aren't enough rich people in West Virginia to provide a win like that.

isn't eastern wv (where all the rich washington dc exurbanites are) the most gop area in the state?

[Alcon]

Bush won it by 13 points. There aren't enough rich people in West Virginia to provide a win like that.

isn't eastern wv (where all the rich washington dc exurbanites are) the most gop area in the state?

Eastern West Virginia is more Republican than average (there aren't really regions to West Virginia that I can tell.) Jefferson County is the furthest east county in the state, but nowhere is the median income more than $14,000. You can spin it as you like, but $14,000 is dirt poor.

West Virginia is a poor, Republican state with poor Republicans.

[iosip]

Eastern West Virginia is more Republican than average (there aren't really regions to West Virginia that I can tell.) Jefferson County is the furthest east county in the state, but nowhere is the median income more than $14,000. You can spin it as you like, but $14,000 is dirt poor.

for the cost of living in wv that is rich.

note also that kerry won in southwest wv which is the poorest region overall.

[Alcon]

Eastern West Virginia is more Republican than average (there aren't really regions to West Virginia that I can tell.) Jefferson County is the furthest east county in the state, but nowhere is the median income more than $14,000. You can spin it as you like, but $14,000 is dirt poor.

for the cost of living in wv that is rich.

note also that kerry won in southwest wv which is the poorest region overall.

Actually, central West Virginia is the most poor part of the state. Poor areas are more likely to go Democrat, but in West Virginia, the difference is between poor and dirt poor. Poverty is everywhere, and they voted Republican. The more poor, the more likely to be Democratic, but it's not a very reliable correlation.

[phk]

in Fresno County, CA

Poor Whites are overwelmingly GOP

Poor Minorities have an emotional attachment to the Democrats.

[Beet]

Exit polling shows poor are more likely to go Dem.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Eastern West Virginia is more Republican than average (there aren't really regions to West Virginia that I can tell.)

Yes there are

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Median House Hold Income is a better indicator.
It's over $41,000 in Putnam County (suburban Charleston). The poorest in McDowell County (a coal county in the far south) at $16,000. McDowell voted over 60% for Kerry, Putnam over 60% for Bush.

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No, no, no, no, no, no...

West Virginia is a Democratic state (about 60% of registered voters, Governer-elect won over 60%, big majorities in State Legislatures, control all but one State Wide Office... and they only lost Sec of State because they ran a 90 year old fossil) that is also socially conservative and was shamefully treated by yet another Democratic Presidential campaign.

Iosip: Coalfield turnout in WV was bad this year again (in a lot of Eastern KY it was quite good).