Greatest Southern Republicans?

[MATTROSE94]

Probably John Sherman Cooper, Thurston Morton, Cecil Underwood, B. Carroll Reece, Winthrop Rockefeller, Howard Baker Sr., Howard Baker Jr., Lamar Alexander, Bill Haslam, John Warner, Ron Paul, and maybe even Rand Paul, George H.W. Bush and Jeb Bush. On the other hand, George Wallace (he switched over to the Republican Party shortly before his death in 1998 AFAIK), Strom Thurmond, Roy Moore, Chris McDaniel, Marsha Blackburn, Jim Inhofe, Jesse Helms, James Martin (the 1962 Alabama Republican Senate Candidate and Congressman from 1965-67), Albert Watson, Tom Cotton, and Ted Cruz were the worst Southern Republicans who ever served in office.

[MATTROSE94]

George Wallace and Roy Moore.

George Wallace never became a Republican

He also thought Reagan was a bad president

https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-851527.html

It also wouldn’t surprise me if George Wallace voted for Barry Goldwater in 1964.

[MATTROSE94]

James D. Martin doesn't get enough credit for what he accomplished and how he went about it.

James D. Martin was a pretty horrific politician who, in a way, convinced the leadership of the Republican Party to openly appeal to white supremacists and to actively fight against any progress in the realm of civil rights. Had he been elected to the Senate in 1962, it is very likely that Martin would have remained in office for the rest of his life and have been far more successful in implementing his agenda of white supremacy and populist conservatism. On the other hand, James G. Martin (the Governor of North Carolina from 1985-93 and the only two-term Republican Governor North Carolina has had this far) seems to have been a decent Governor overall, albeit nothing really stands out as particularly notable in his gubernatorial record.

[MATTROSE94]

Rand and Ron Paul, Rodney Mims Cook Sr.

I would have included Rodney Mims Cook Sr. as well (he would have easily had my vote in the 1978 Georgia Gubernatorial election), but I limited my list to Southern Republicans that were elected to either the House of Representatives, the Senate, Governor, or other statewide offices.