A Tale Of Two Southern States
Curious as to why a place like Georgia seems to be trending so strongly towards the Republicans while a state like Arkansas remains a Dem bulwark against a strong GOP tide in the rest of region?
The below press releases are helpful in explaining, in part, why two red, Southern states remain very different politically. They are also instructive as to why Dems are favored to regain the governor's mansion in Little Rock, but not given much of a chance in Atlanta.
Gov. Sonny Perdue (R), the first GOP governor in the history of his state, crows about picking up the endorsement of 76 of Georgia's county sheriffs, 37 of whom are Dems. Two days later, AG/GOV candidate Mike Beebe (D) touts support from 68 of his state's sheriffs, all of whom are Dems.
Why the big deal? Because it reflects the larger state of political affairs in each place.
As Georgia elects more Republicans up and down the ballot, the last bastion of rural Dem strength, the so-called "courthouse crowd," becomes more comfortable crossing party lines and publicly stating their support for statewide GOP candidates. Surely such Dem sheriffs are already -- and have been for some time -- voting for Republican presidents. Now they're backing a GOP governor over a South Georgia Democrat, LG Mark Taylor, with deep roots in his party's rural tradition. The next logical step is to back Republicans at the local level and, finally, to switch parties, themselves. The end result is the political death of the Dems' "courthouse crowd" and the top-to-bottom dominance of the GOP in states like Georgia. Without a local bench, where will Dems find their state house and congressional candidates?
Arkansas, regional anomaly that it is, offers a different scenario. An elected official for nearly a quarter-century, Beebe is a known quantity among state and local pols. Having held a state senate seat for 20 years in north-central Arkansas' White County, Beebe represents the rural strength Dems still enjoy in Arkansas. The county sheriffs there are still 90% Dem and, despite 10 years of a Republican in the governor's mansion, would not consider crossing party lines to support the GOP candidate for governor. For a host of reasons, Arkansas, despite its conservative bearing, has resisted embracing the Republican party. So with a courthouse crowd -- the bench -- that has stayed loyal to the Dems, the Legislature remains firmly in the grip of the party. And with a Dem-dominated Capitol, the political giving from the close-knit business community continues to flow to the Dems -- sustaining the cycle.
[JONATHAN MARTIN]
What are those "host of reasons?" This is actually a question that I've asked myself many times, and I'll confess I don't have a clue as to the answer. Why has Arkansas retained this strong Dem attachment. Heck, it even had a historic base of GOP strength in the Northwest, something none of the Deep South states had.
Isn't it obvious. Arkansas has Bill Clinton and Georgia has Zell Miller. Two of the best Southern politicians of the last 100 years. Clinton remains a strong Democrat and at least somewhat considers Arkansas home.
Miller has abandoned the Democratic party and very much still considers Georgia home.
One thing left out of the article - Sonny Perdue threw a lets celebrate the sheriffs bash and didn't bother telling them if they showed up that would constitute support for his campaign. Some Democrats, even from very conservative counties, have questioned their inclusion on his list. Additionally, we have 159 counties, which means so far at least, less than 50% of the sheriffs have publicly endorsed Perdue.
Actually, north/northwest Georgia had some historical Republican roots. Not as strong as in say North Carolina's western mountain range or east Tennessee, but still some GOP roots there.
It has to do with redistricting. Southern states like Kentucky, Texas and Georgia that have redistricted away from rural Southern D control have become Republican at the state House level. Those that haven't: Mississippi and Arkansas are two examples, are still controlled by rural Southern Ds at the state House level.