Which state is the heart and soul of the Democratic/Republican Party?

[Vosem]

An interesting way to measure this is by counting how many serious presidential candidates (so, either winning a state or getting >5% in an early state) a given state has provided its party. I started the count in 1972, which may be pretty early.

Republicans: Texas has provided the Republican Party 7 serious presidential contenders (George H.W. Bush; John Connally; Phil Gramm; George W. Bush; Ron Paul; Rick Perry; Ted Cruz); no other state comes remotely close. California (Richard Nixon, Paul McCloskey, Ronald Reagan), Tennessee (Howard Baker, Lamar Alexander, Fred Thompson), and New York (Jack Kemp, Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump) have all also provided 3 each, though CA has not provided a serious Republican candidate since 1984, and not for an open primary since 1980.

Democrats: Massachusetts has provided the Democratic Party 4 serious presidential contenders (Ted Kennedy, Michael Dukakis, Paul Tsongas, John Kerry). Two states come close; California has provided 3 (Sam Yorty, Jerry Brown, Alan Cranston), though none since 1992, and Illinois has provided 3 (Paul Simon, Wesley Clark, Barack Obama). Note that to keep things consistent for non-politicians I count birth state as home state, since it can otherwise be unclear before recent years where they live; if you count self-identified home state, Illinois has a different set of 3 (Jesse Jackson, Paul Simon, Barack Obama) and Arkansas also has 3 (Wilbur Mills, Bill Clinton, Wesley Clark); note that under 'birth state' Jesse Jackson is identified as a candidate from South Carolina.

Either way; Texas for Republicans, Massachusetts for Democrats. With the former being much more so than the latter.

Also -- isn't it odd that there haven't been any serious presidential contenders from California, the biggest state, since 1992? In that time, there've been four serious Texans (Bush, Jr., Paul, Perry, and Cruz) and three serious New Yorkers (Giuliani, Hillary, and Trump). But zero candidates from California. It's bizarre.

[Vosem]

Also -- isn't it odd that there haven't been any serious presidential contenders from California, the biggest state, since 1992? In that time, there've been four serious Texans (Bush, Jr., Paul, Perry, and Cruz) and three serious New Yorkers (Giuliani, Hillary, and Trump). But zero candidates from California. It's bizarre.

Pete Wilson made an ephemeral bid for President in 1996. His successors were the only man ever to be recalled from the Governorship, a man constitutionally ineligible for the Presidency, and a man who already sought the Presidency thrice.

Didn't he drop out before Iowa, though? I defined "serious candidate" as getting 4.5% in either Iowa or New Hampshire. Plus, note that not a single NY candidate was a state governor (Pataki's bid having been no more serious than Wilson's); California has big-city mayors, prominent celebrities, offbeat Representatives that could all command a following if one of them ran for President. But...none do.