Why are so many already extremely Republican rural Southern counties trending Republican?

[Bea O'Problem]

It seems like these heavily GOP counties are never maxed out. Why is that?

[Skill and Chance]

Gradual R improvement with the black vote, and population loss with culturally left young people heading to the cities. 

[Storr]

Don't forget the old "solid south" New Deal Demosaurs continuing to die out. This especially true in counties that were late to flip Republican (late enough that a meaningful number of "I'll never vote for the party of Lincoln" types are still alive and voting), often in upper South states like West Virginia, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

[Alben Barkley]

Don't forget the old "solid south" New Deal Demosaurs continuing to die out. This especially true in counties that were late to flip Republican (late enough that a meaningful number of "I'll never vote for the party of Lincoln" types are still alive and voting), often in upper South states like West Virginia, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

The types in states like KY and WV were not “never vote for the Party of Lincoln” types but rather “always vote for the Party of FDR” types. In fact, West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky were staunchly Unionist and consistently Republican between the Civil War and the New Deal. FDR just changed them dramatically. They were the Party of Lincoln, then the Party of FDR. Never anti-Lincoln.

It was the Deep South where the “never vote for the Party of Lincoln” types tended to reside. And while FDR won those states, it was in the 40s when they first started to move away from the Democrats, in total contrast to those upper South states.

[Bea O'Problem]

Don't forget the old "solid south" New Deal Demosaurs continuing to die out. This especially true in counties that were late to flip Republican (late enough that a meaningful number of "I'll never vote for the party of Lincoln" types are still alive and voting), often in upper South states like West Virginia, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

That doesn’t apply to Winston and Cullman counties in Alabama, or LaSalle Parish in Louisiana. Those weren’t late to flip, especially Winston County. Winston County didn’t have many old New Deal dinosaur Democrats. What explains the continuing GOP trend in these counties that were historically GOP or flipped early or at the average time?

[Skill and Chance]

Don't forget the old "solid south" New Deal Demosaurs continuing to die out. This especially true in counties that were late to flip Republican (late enough that a meaningful number of "I'll never vote for the party of Lincoln" types are still alive and voting), often in upper South states like West Virginia, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

IDK

1. Those people would be pretty ancient at this point.  Unless the local economy is dominated by a nursing home, there likely won't be enough of them around to matter.

2. I find it very hard to believe someone with that attitude voted for Obama.

[Bea O'Problem]

In Alabama, Winston County is ancestrally Republican. Cullman County flipped Republican at the average time. Cullman voted GOP since 1972. Other than George Wallace, Jimmy Carter, Teddy Roosevelt (Bull Moose), and FDR in 1932, Winston always voted GOP. I don't understand Trump doing better in 2020 than in 2016. Will they possibly trend slightly Democratic from a dead cat bounce (while remaining extremely Republican) or at least remain static in 2024?

[DS0816]

It seems like these heavily GOP counties are never maxed out. Why is that?

Have the Democrats done anything favorable for those citizens which would persuade those citizens to vote for Democrats?

[Bea O'Problem]

It seems like these heavily GOP counties are never maxed out. Why is that?

Have the Democrats done anything favorable for those citizens which would persuade those citizens to vote for Democrats?

Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act, which is favorable for them. It still doesn't persuade them. It seems like they might end up like more populated versions of King County, Texas.

[DS0816]

It seems like these heavily GOP counties are never maxed out. Why is that?

Have the Democrats done anything favorable for those citizens which would persuade those citizens to vote for Democrats?

Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act, which is favorable for them. It still doesn't persuade them. It seems like they might end up like more populated versions of King County, Texas.

It’s been eleven [11] years…so, for many, it has not been “Affordable.”

[Bea O'Problem]

It seems like these heavily GOP counties are never maxed out. Why is that?

Have the Democrats done anything favorable for those citizens which would persuade those citizens to vote for Democrats?

Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act, which is favorable for them. It still doesn't persuade them. It seems like they might end up like more populated versions of King County, Texas.

It’s been eleven [11] years…so, for many, it has not been “Affordable.”

It has made it better than it was. I believe that you're a Republican.

[Joe McCarthy Was Right]

Don't forget the old "solid south" New Deal Demosaurs continuing to die out. This especially true in counties that were late to flip Republican (late enough that a meaningful number of "I'll never vote for the party of Lincoln" types are still alive and voting), often in upper South states like West Virginia, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

That doesn’t apply to Winston and Cullman counties in Alabama, or LaSalle Parish in Louisiana. Those weren’t late to flip, especially Winston County. Winston County didn’t have many old New Deal dinosaur Democrats. What explains the continuing GOP trend in these counties that were historically GOP or flipped early or at the average time?

I disagree with all of the above answers. Trump just got better turnout from low income whites.

[Buffalo Mayor Young Kim]

I have a couple of hypotheses
-Asymmetric outmigration: Rural counties across the US are getting substantially older as young people leave for work in larger cities. As American politics is sharply polarized by age right now, this effectively means bleeding democratic leaners. If this is the case we should expect these counties to continue trending Republican as they get smaller.
-The Trump factor - Rural Southern areas have an unusually large number of conspiracy theorists and fringe extremists. Everything from your harmless Dale Gribbles to anti-vaxers to sovereign citizens to Nazis and white supremacists have gone from apolitical or into fringe third parties to card carrying Republicans since Trump took over. If this is the case we should see a growing swell of non-voters turning into down the line Republicans and then plateauing off over time.

[Bea O'Problem]

Has the population significantly changed in Winston and Cullman in Alabama changed? Has the population in LaSalle Parish of Louisiana changed significantly? Or is it simply that a few remaining Democratic voters are defecting to the GOP?

[DS0816]

...

It has made it better than it was. I believe that you're a Republican.

It not being “Affordable” applying to people applies to people regardless of their politics—or even if they follow politics.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Don't forget the old "solid south" New Deal Demosaurs continuing to die out. This especially true in counties that were late to flip Republican (late enough that a meaningful number of "I'll never vote for the party of Lincoln" types are still alive and voting), often in upper South states like West Virginia, Arkansas, and Kentucky.

West Virginia was a Republican state till 1932 , heck until 2016 the person who held the record for the largest victory in West Virginia was Lincoln in 1864.

[Bea O'Problem]

What about Loving County, Texas?

[‎]

Another major reason is that Black people are slowly moving out of rural Southern counties.
Every census there are fewer and fewer Black-majority counties in the South.

[Bea O'Problem]

Another major reason is that Black people are slowly moving out of rural Southern counties.
Every census there are fewer and fewer Black-majority counties in the South.

Winston County, Alabama was already extremely white and ancestrally Republican.

[Ferguson97]

Young people are leaving for economic opportunity.

Long-time conservative Dems finally making the switch.

Low-propensity voters who like Trump.

[Non Swing Voter]

Aside from the answers above, the GOP is also targeting these areas to juice up turnout among their base.  They can't win in cities or big suburbs anymore so they need to get every vote out of these tiny communities to offset their massive losses in the 70% of the country that's voting against them. 

[For Trump, everything. For immigrants, the law]

Unless a county is literally 100-0, it is not "maxed out."