Which Sub-Region is more integral to the history of the Republican Party?

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

These two sub-regions are what I consider to be "Republican Base Counties" (Yeah, I am getting rid of the "Historically Republican" label). These counties have always voted Republican, Know Nothing, Union, or Bull Moose since 1856, outside of exceptions in 1912, 1932, 1932, and in 1936. I have my reasons as to why some seemingly obvious counties such as Leslie and Owsley KY, Avery & Wilkes NC, Potter, PA, etc were excluded. I made the restrictions on what could pass as one of these counties very tough to ensure only the most consistent and reliable of counties are considered in this grouping (Such as Owsley voting Dem over Know-Nothing in 1856 and Southern Dem over Union in 1860, I avoided adding counties formed from counties that were not as reliably R/KN/U, etc.).

I also added Butler and Blair counties in a different color. They fit the criteria for Republican Base counties, but I made them a separate color since they are further out from the Northern Tier region.

But regardless, which county should fit is not the point of this thread. What is important here are the sub-regions.