RETURN OF THE SOLID SOUTH? EXPLORING PARTISAN REALIGNMENT IN MISSISSIPPI

In: Politics & policy, Band 24, Heft 4, S. 757-776

Abstract

Modern Republican gains in the South culminating in the 1994 GOP congressional landslide have sparked renewed interest in the possibility that we are in a realigning era. Statewide opinion polls from a key southern state over a sixteen‐year time frame illustrate considerable change in the public's partisan identifications, especially among white conservatives. Republican gains may also be prompted by positive public reactions to GOP presidents and a governor and negative reactions to their Democratic counterparts. Yet adroit actions by pragmatic white Democratic officeholders and emerging Republican factionalism have hindered further GOP gains in state offices, illustrating the continuing relevance of dealignment as people vote for the candidate instead of the party.