Least conservative southeastern state? NC, Florida, or Georgia? (population, Chicago, difference)

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by cdw1084

GA's demographics allow it to appear more liberal. Atlanta's growth will eventually allow GA to mirror IL because of one dominant metro and the state will follow suite. However, all states are fairly close, but because GA just recently turned blue and sent two critical blue senators into the House...I'm going with GA.

GA elected their 2 Democrat US Senators, very barely from looking over election results of those runoffs. Hate to say it, but while Warnock and Ossoff may not be quite as vulnerable as Jones was in Alabama, I still have this weird feeling the right Republican candidate could give Warnock(who will face reelection sooner of these 2 US Senators, IIRC) a big scare, even if he wins it barely. Like I think it'll be razor close, whoever wins when Warnock's seat is up for reelection(think in 2022). That is, IF Georgia Republican primary voters don't nominate a Roy Moore type candidate that'd make him/her more likely lose.

My gut feeling from what I read about these 3 states, is that NC is the least conservative of these 3 states. Even if Trump won that state in 2020, their legislature still has a good number of Democrats, and moreso than Georgia from what I remember. And on a non-political note, Wegman's is expanding into NC. Probably less conservative than Florida too(other than the south Florida/Miami part of the state being the most liberal part), though I keep less close tabs on that state vs. the other 2. Maybe that should change, and I keep closer tabs on FL news? Democrats never seem to have any luck, winning statewide races in Florida. I do sometimes wonder if they had nominated someone other than Gillum(or whoever that ex-Tallahassee mayor's name was), if Dems would've had better luck in the 2018 governor's race? Gillum seemed to have a questionable background, the more I researched him.

[ShenardL]

Originally Posted by BlueDevilFan

Well NC has more blue leaning cities than does GA.... but the NC suburban counties are more red than the Atlanta Suburbs

Georgia voted for Biden and elected 2 Democrats as senators. The governor race was also very close and should've gone to a run-off.

[cdw1084]

Originally Posted by SonySegaTendo617

GA elected their 2 Democrat US Senators, very barely from looking over election results of those runoffs. Hate to say it, but while Warnock and Ossoff may not be quite as vulnerable as Jones was in Alabama, I still have this weird feeling the right Republican candidate could give Warnock(who will face reelection sooner of these 2 US Senators, IIRC) a big scare, even if he wins it barely. Like I think it'll be razor close, whoever wins when Warnock's seat is up for reelection(think in 2022). That is, IF Georgia Republican primary voters don't nominate a Roy Moore type candidate that'd make him/her more likely lose.

My gut feeling from what I read about these 3 states, is that NC is the least conservative of these 3 states. Even if Trump won that state in 2020, their legislature still has a good number of Democrats, and moreso than Georgia from what I remember. And on a non-political note, Wegman's is expanding into NC. Probably less conservative than Florida too(other than the south Florida/Miami part of the state being the most liberal part), though I keep less close tabs on that state vs. the other 2. Maybe that should change, and I keep closer tabs on FL news? Democrats never seem to have any luck, winning statewide races in Florida. I do sometimes wonder if they had nominated someone other than Gillum(or whoever that ex-Tallahassee mayor's name was), if Dems would've had better luck in the 2018 governor's race? Gillum seemed to have a questionable background, the more I researched him.

While all of that may be true, the point of my comment was indicating how GA will continue to become bluer because of demographics and the areas that are growing. I also can see GA following VA's path from a red state to a blue state more than I see it reversing back to a red state. There's a reason Kemp meddled with the ID laws...whether you're for it or against it, he's aware of the growth and demographics. GA has the best chance to become more progressive because of those two factors alone. It's not like FL, where you can see how the demographics there will not help them become any bluer anytime soon. NC is closer to GA in this regard.

[cdw1084]

Originally Posted by ziozio

If Florida and NC had as high a proportion of black voters as GA does, they both would’ve been more democratic than GA in the 2020 election. A black democratic voter is not necessarily a liberal.

This is somewhat true, but there's no "if" when it comes to the final results. GA's demographics remains it's advantage over the other two states. Mind you, there's also a large number of moderate Whites in GA that voted blue. Take a look at Mississippi, a state with similar demographics and one can see that. Furthermore, a vote against Republican views does open door for liberalism in a sense. Not on the level of California or Washington, but it helps the state progress away from conservative views.

There were also over 700,000 registered Blacks that didn't even vote in GA.

[Prickly Pear]

What does Florida have that is more progressive than North Carolina or Georgia out of the following:
- Policies to reduce homelessness via support rather than criminalization such as unemployment and section 8 and affordable housing
- Policies to encourage better labor practices such as the law requiring employers to post salaries (Colorado), labor unions, maternity and paternity leave, OSHA, assigned work limits for certain positions (nurses in California)
- Policies to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid/Medicare
- Taxation system that increases the richer you are, versus the poorer you are (income tax is progressive, sales tax is regressive, etc.)
- Strides to reduce police brutality, racial discrimination left over from things like redlining and Jim Crow
- More funding for education
- Environmental regulations (beyond federal at state and local levels) regarding pollution, cleanup, outright ban on certain chemicals (PFAS), drinking water infrastructure and quality improvements, clean energy
- Policies to support emergency preparedness INCLUDING PANDEMIC RESPONSE or natural disasters such as hurricanes
- Strides to improve women’s equity in terms of the pink tax, pro-choice, sex ed in schools, changes statewide regarding dress codes for girls, etc.
- Strides to improve LGBTQ+ equality in terms of lack of social stigma, trans rights (some states require trans surgery to be covered by insurance) and support of alternative pronouns

I’m sorry but Florida is legit horrible at all of these things if not being some of the worst out of the entire nation (education, COVID enforcement, notorious for keeping the unemployment website shut down). Being progressive is more than how different people look on the street and if you can drink on the street. Not that Georgia and North Carolina are absolute progressive pinnacles of success but they are certainly better than Florida in some way.

For the record out of my list above, not even California is all that progressive.

[jas75]

One distinction between Georgia and North Carolina is that their voter turnout levels are quite different. Georgia's may improve in the future now that the state has proven to be a competitive battleground and more of the electorate realize their choice truly can impact the outcome, but in 2020 the state cast about 5 million votes for president. North Carolina achieved over 5.5 million votes despite having a slightly smaller population, as confirmed in the 2020 census.

So I think it's fair to say that even with the valiant efforts of leaders such as Stacey Abrams, Georgia has a lot of room for improvement when it comes to civic participation. When a large share of eligible residents don't vote at all whether due to restrictive laws or apathy, or some combination of each, elected officials will pursue an agenda that lacks support from the vast majority of the public - especially when they are accustomed to having their side in full control of the state. It will be no small feat to change this dynamic, and the 2020 results may have been a sign this is just beginning to bear fruit.

[whereiend]

This is an interesting question because you could make an argument for any of three.

I feel like Georgia is the most conservative despite being the only one that went blue in 2020. First of all, it's the most polarized of the three with a very blue Atlanta and very red pretty much everywhere else. Beyond that, the blue parts of Georgia are in my opinion not particularly "liberal". For example, Biden had by far his easiest win over Bernie in Georgia than any other state. Overall it has an argument for "most democratic" of these three, but not an argument for "most liberal".

NC on the other hand has a few more areas that I feel are truly liberal in politics like Asheville and Durham/Chapel Hill, and then it has Raleigh and Charlotte which have similar dynamics to Atlanta. Bernie got 24% here compared to 9% in Georgia, and Warren grabbed another 10%, so I feel like the blue is a bit more liberal, though the red is probably similar to GA.

Florida I think has the most unconventional politics of the three. The cities are relatively light blue and the other areas are a relatively light red. It easily passed a $15 minimum wage yet has been consistently going red in national elections. It has some unusual voting blocks in the Cuban population and yankee retirees. Overall it seems like the most "moderate" of the three states, but perhaps the least liberal.

Since the question is "least conservative", I think I'm gonna go with Florida. If the question was "most liberal" I might pick NC instead.

[annie_himself]

Originally Posted by FL_Expert

I’ll go with Florida.

Georgia really is conservative, but Atlanta is liberal. Atlanta does dominate the state, but if you go to one of the 200 or so small towns you’re fully in the South.

NC is like GA to a lessor extent. It’s more liberal as a whole, but mostly by the primary metro areas.

Florida has its southern parts, but generally speaking I-4 corridor and south isn’t southern at all.

None of this makes sense. Southern isn't synonymous with conservative.

[demonta4]

Originally Posted by jas75

Georgia has a requirement that candidates receive 50% of the vote, or else the top two are matched up in a runoff. Without this, the state would have kept its two Republican senators as they received more votes than the Democratic challengers in November 2020 (despite the state voting blue for president). Republican turnout dropped off in the January 2021 runoff.

All three states are competitive - but they also lean more to the right than the nation at large. Recent voting results aside, I don't think Florida has quite as deeply entrenched conservatism as elsewhere in the South.

Actually Warnock won his race while Ossoff lost so it wouldn’t been split.

[kemahkami]

Thing with Georgia (as well as North Carolina to a lesser extent) is that the "progressive/liberal" feel is on a silver platter — much more of a demographic that's politically active and for Democrats.