Talk Elections

Anyone know?

That is a more difficult question.  I would say Alabama and Missiissppi are probably the closest.
In 1840 Miss went with the Whigs and Ala the Democrats.

1868 Miss had not yet regained the right to cast EVs though Alabama had.

And in 1960 though John Kennedy actually one the Popular vote in both states. (for named candidates) Miss did not award any EVs and Ala rewarded JFK with 5 EVs the rest of them were left unpledged.

Idaho and Utah have almost always voted together except in 1900 when Utah went Republican and Idaho was for the Democrat.

I counted 6 timees that Conneticut and Rhode Island have gone in different directions.

It would take time to compile a list for everytime everystate but I doubt that their is a pair.  The one that is more likely is if there are two states that have voted differently everysingle election.

The last time Washington and Oregon voted differently was 1968.

I expect both states to vote for the same candidate in 2004 to keep the trend going.

As goes Maine, so goes Vermont.

Not always true, but this subject reminded me of that play on an old saying.

The Dakotas split only in 1916, 1912, 1896 and 1892, and in 1912 and 1892 one of them went to a third party. I don't know if there have been any other times, but I doubt it.

I think Wisconsin and Iowa have for the most part always been together too, except in 1976, 1940 and of course 1924 because of LaFollette.

Are there any that were always different?

If you exclude DC, no.
Just look at 1972 and 1984.

(edit: and e.g. 2000 to exclude MA and MN)

"As falls Cedar Falls, so falls Cedar Rapids!"  Rallying cry from Iowa...

;-)

Alaska first cast a vote for President in  1960,

From 1960 to the present, with the exception of 1968, Alaska supported the Republican candidate for President in every election, as has (for the same period) Idaho and Utah (but to cite two examples).

Hawaii too is a young state, but it HAS voted for the same candidate as Rhode Island every time, I believe.

No two states have always voted the same.

The only two pairs of states that have voted together in every election:

Indiana and Alaska
Rhode Island and Hawaii

Alaska and Virginia
Alaska and Indiana
Rhode Island and Hawaii

What about Alaska and the following states (not counting elections before 1960 when Alaska was not yet a state)?

Idaho
Utah
Wyoming
North Dakota
South Dakota
Nebraska
Kansas
Oklahoma
Indiana (already mentioned)
Virginia (oh well someone beat me to that one)

The above ten states all went for Eisenhower in 1956 and 1952.  Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Virginia went for Truman in 1948, while the four states north of Oklahoma and Indiana went for Dewey.  Wyoming is separated from the Truman half of the "Alaska-like Ten" when you go back to 1944 (it went for Dewey, while the other four went for FDR), while the Dewey '48 half went for Dewey in 1944 as well.  All ten states, except for Wyoming which has already voted differently from each other state when you go back from 2000 through 1944, went for the same party's candidate in 1940 as in 1944.  All of the Alaska-like Ten went for FDR in 1936 and 1932 and for Hoover in 1928.  Eight of the ten states went for Coolidge in 1928, but Oklahoma and Virginia went for Democrat John Davis which separates them from Idaho and Utah.  Virginia went Democratic in 1920, but the other nine states in the Alaska-like Ten, including Oklahoma (which has went for the same candidate as Virginia ever since), went for Harding.  South Dakota and Indiana went Republican in 1916, but the rest of the ten states went for President Wilson.  South Dakota and Indiana are now separated from North Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas, and the only other instance of multiple states in the Alaska-like Ten going (at least in terms of the popular vote) for the same candidate in every election from 1916 on in Idaho and Utah.  Every state in the Alaska-like Ten went for Wilson in 1912 except for Utah which went for Taft (breaking up the Idaho-Utah pair) and South Dakota which went for TR (breaking up the South Dakota-Indiana pair).  So only the North Dakota-Nebraska-Kansas trio remains.  Nebraska sets itself apart from Kansas and North Dakota in going for Bryan instead of Taft in 1908, and Kansas and North Dakota both got separate ways in 1896 when Kansas goes for McKinley and North Dakota for Bryan (both states went for McKinley in 1900 and for TR in 1904).

Sincerely,

Kevin Lamoreau

    How about TX and OK?   I can't see those two states as having voted separately many times, if at all.  KS and NE, another pair.

       As for states voting opposite OH and KY are the best bet.   KY only became a possible R state recently.  OH only became a possible D state recently.    In '00 I followed the tracking polls of both states, and they fluctuated in opposite directions. 

     

     

KS and NE actually vote seperately on occasion. NE is usually regarded as more conservative than KS.

TX and OK voted differently 1976

Since North Dakota statehood, ND and KS have only voted differently once (1896)

Since 1892, New Jersey and Illinois have only voted differently once (1948)

Since NM statehood, NM and CA have voted together in every election but 2 (1912 and 1960), but a change of <1% of the vote in CA both times would have made the two vote the same all of the time.