Bath and Alleghany Counties, VA

[Crumpets]

I'm sure everyone here has noticed Bath and Alleghany Counties in Virginia at some point - two counties that voted 60%+ for Deeds in his landslide loss to McDonnell in 2009. Bath county quickly swung Republican. Alleghany swung a bit more slowly, but is now also a Republican county. In last year's gubernatorial race, and in the 2016 presidential race, both voted 60%+ Republican. Between the 2009 gubernatorial election and the 2013 gubernatorial election, both swung 30+ points to the Republicans even as the rest of the state swung 20 points to the Democrat.

Anyways, I always imagined these counties were stereotypical rust belt/Appalachian counties, with a mining or industrial economy, little racial diversity, high unemployment, and very working class. This weekend, I visited both counties and was surprised to see just how different they are:

Alleghany County is pretty close to this image - a mill fills most of the largest town (which isn't actually in the county, but is an independent city), there are plenty of confederate flags on trucks, and it is generally what most people would picture when imagining the Virginia-West Virginia border area.

On the other hand, Bath County seemed to be very much a middle class retirement community - lots of golf courses, fishing and hunting lodges, and hiking trails. The economy didn't seem great, but it seemed like it was a very seasonal economy that would peak during summer, and wouldn't be very reflective of the Appalachian economy as a whole. While I can see why a Democrat wouldn't do well in the area, I can't see why a Democrat would ever have done well, let alone as recently as 2009.

So if someone is more familiar with these counties, why did Bath County vote Democratic until so recently, why does it seem to vote so similarly to Alleghany County and why weren't the other counties in the areas as Democratic as recently?

[Dr. MB]

Bath and Alleghany counties voted for Creigh Deeds because he represents them in the state senate.

[jimrtex]

On the other hand, Bath County seemed to be very much a middle class retirement community - lots of golf courses, fishing and hunting lodges, and hiking trails. The economy didn't seem great, but it seemed like it was a very seasonal economy that would peak during summer, and wouldn't be very reflective of the Appalachian economy as a whole. While I can see why a Democrat wouldn't do well in the area, I can't see why a Democrat would ever have done well, let alone as recently as 2009.

So if someone is more familiar with these counties, why did Bath County vote Democratic until so recently, why does it seem to vote so similarly to Alleghany County and why weren't the other counties in the areas as Democratic as recently?

Take a look at the maps from 1948, 1960, 1980, and 1996. You will see a strip of counties plus the western tip of Virginia voting like West Virginia.

I'm not sure that Bath is much of anything. There are very few persons, and the population is declining. It looks more like a resort area based on the warm springs, and people don't travel to hot springs. They have a Jacuzzi or go on a cruise. Resort areas sometimes have a bit of corruption in the form of gambling or prostitution.

[VPH]

Alleghany isn't that simple. Take a look at Covington, which is an independent city surrounded by Alleghany County. It's been a Democratic area that has swung right at an incredibly fast pace. It's a mill town with a high poverty rate that has been experiencing major job losses. Even in the Governor's race, it shifted heavily away from Democrats. Really exemplifies the swing of dispossessed rural White counties to Republicans.