New Opportunities for Southern Democrats

Our southern Democratic state parties came together and did some really interesting research on how southern voters view our message - lots of good news for Dems up and down the ticket in here -Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

New Opportunities For Southern Democrats

Ongoing Research By New Coalition of Southern Democratic State Parties Challenges Conventional Wisdom

A new coalition of southern Democratic state parties recently conducted a survey of 2,800 likely Southern voters seeking new opportunities and strategic imperatives for southern Democrats in the 2016 election cycle and beyond.

The increasing electoral advantage Republicans enjoy with Southern white voters has raised serious concerns about Democrats’ ability to compete and win here. To plot a path forward, eleven southern State Democratic Parties and Project New America have joined forces to conduct an extensive region-wide poll of likely southern voters’ attitudes toward political parties and government. Project New America has broken similar ground in the Intermountain West working with Democratic and progressive groups dating back to 2007.

This first-of-its-kind coordinated effort produced compelling results that indicate Southern Democrats are in a strong position to compel southern voters to take a new look at the Democratic Party.

Here are some of the strategic highlights:

Southern voters view Democrats more favorably overall than Republicans (Democrats 47/49%, Republicans 42/53%), and about as many voters believe Democrats share their values as Republicans (Democrats 40%, Republicans 43%).

Southern white voters have a strongly unfavorable view of the Democratic Party, but blame Republicans for focusing only on the special interests and the wealthy.

Southern white voters say their biggest concern with government is the influence of the wealthy and large corporations. This clear Democratic territory outpaces traditional Republican boogeymen such as welfare or big government.

Defying conventional wisdom, Democrats start at parity with the Republican Party in the South, with a third of voters holding a very unfavorable rating of Democrats (34%) and a third holding a very unfavorable view of Republicans (31%).

Young southerners favor Democrats by 40 points, 65% to 25%. More than half of these likely voters under 30 view the Republican Party unfavorably, 37% favorable to 52% unfavorable.

Taxes and helping the poor are no longer a third rail of southern politics. Only 9% of all voters (and only 7% of white voters) felt that taxes were too high. Only 6% of white voters felt government only worked for the poor.

Among the fastest growing segment of the electorate, 71% of non-white Southern voters view the Democratic Party favorably compared to just 27% for the GOP.

The impact of this new research is clear: the Democratic Party has a clear opportunity to tap into the hopes and concerns of southern voters, particularly deep-seated concern over the state of the economy and the outsized influence of the wealthy and the large corporations.

While Republicans hold the financial advantage and benefit from widespread partisan gerrymandering, they flagrantly and proudly stand on the wrong side of the issues most important to Southern voters. Meanwhile, demographic changes continue to overwhelmingly favor Democrats, as Republicans remain unable to make inroads with minority voters.

The conventional wisdom about Southern politics is changing, and Democrats are the only party poised to take advantage of the South’s new political realities.

The coalition funding this ongoing research project is made up of southern state Democratic parties and Project New America. The participating State Parties are the Florida Democratic Party, South Carolina Democratic Party, Tennessee Democratic Party, Louisiana Democratic Party, Mississippi Democratic Party, North Carolina Democratic Party, and the Democratic Party of Georgia.

The poll of 2,800 southern voters was conducted from July 9 to 14 by Public Policy Polling. The poll consists of proportional samples of voters in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.