Can Anyone Explain Tennessee Divide to Me?

[perpetual_cynic]

Going way back, Eastern Tennessee has always been a Republican stronghold, while Middle and Western Tennessee were not. Why?

[TDAS04]

East TN was pro-Union, anti-secession during the Civil War.  It has been firmly in the hands of the party of Lincoln ever since (though not necessarily for the same reasons today; East TN is a typical conservative, Republican region).

[H. Ross Peron]

By contrast, Western and Central Tennessee had a large number of slaves and plantations in the Antebellum period making the region much more favourable to the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

By contrast, Western and Central Tennessee had a large number of slaves and plantations in the Antebellum period making the region much more favourable to the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

An interesting curiosity of Tennessee state politics is that West and East Tennessee have never been reliably won by the same party.

[TML]

A similar dynamic existed in states which were around the Union-Confederate border: “Unionist” areas favored Republicans since they were the dominant party in the North at the time of the Civil War, whereas “Secessionist” areas favored Democrats since they were the dominant party in the South during the Civil War.

[Calthrina950]

The two districts in Eastern Tennessee-TN-01 and TN-02-have been in Republican hands for longer than any other congressional district they hold. TN-01 has been represented by a Republican since 1881 and TN-02 has had Republican representation since 1867. TN-02 hasn't had a Democratic Representative since 1855, during the antebellum period-between 1855 and 1867, it had Know-Nothing and Unionist representation. There were times during the existence of the Solid South (i.e. the 1930s) in which TN-01 and TN-02 were the only Republican-held districts in all of the old Confederacy.

[E-Dawg]

By contrast, Western and Central Tennessee had a large number of slaves and plantations in the Antebellum period making the region much more favourable to the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

An interesting curiosity of Tennessee state politics is that West and East Tennessee have never been reliably won by the same party.

Haven't both been reliably Republican since 2004?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

By contrast, Western and Central Tennessee had a large number of slaves and plantations in the Antebellum period making the region much more favourable to the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

An interesting curiosity of Tennessee state politics is that West and East Tennessee have never been reliably won by the same party.

Haven't both been reliably Republican since 2004?

West Tennessee is swingy. I think Obama won it in 2008 and 2012, iirc.

[Podgy the Bear]

The Middle Tennessee counties (outside Davidson) have had some of the most dramatic shifts to the Republicans in a very short period of time. 

Counties like Perry and Stewart voted for McGovern.  They were voting for Kerry in 2004, and Obama retained about 40-45 percent of the vote in 2008 and 2012.  But now, Republican support there is similar to East Tennessee.

[TML]

The Middle Tennessee counties (outside Davidson) have had some of the most dramatic shifts to the Republicans in a very short period of time. 

Counties like Perry and Stewart voted for McGovern.  They were voting for Kerry in 2004, and Obama retained about 40-45 percent of the vote in 2008 and 2012.  But now, Republican support there is similar to East Tennessee.

This area was secessionist during the Civil War so it supported Democrats for a long time. Democratic strength was further bolstered by the New Deal era; in recent decades, the dwindling of Greatest Generation voters (who grew up during the New Deal era) combined with the increasing nationalization of politics caused this area to shift R.

[Calthrina950]

The Middle Tennessee counties (outside Davidson) have had some of the most dramatic shifts to the Republicans in a very short period of time. 

Counties like Perry and Stewart voted for McGovern.  They were voting for Kerry in 2004, and Obama retained about 40-45 percent of the vote in 2008 and 2012.  But now, Republican support there is similar to East Tennessee.

This is certainly true. Whereas throughout much of the twentieth century, there was a sharp difference between heavily Democratic Middle and West Tennessee on the one hand, and heavily Republican East Tennessee on the other, there is no distinction now. Many of the ancestrally Democratic counties now vote no differently from the ancestrally Republican ones. The same transformation has happened in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Missouri as well-other states which long had a divide between loyally Democratic, pro-secessionist areas and loyally Republican, anti-secessionist areas.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

East Tennessee = Appalachia.
Mountains and valleys vs the cotton-growing flatland of the Nashville Basin and Mississippi River to the west.

[Alcibiades]

The Middle Tennessee counties (outside Davidson) have had some of the most dramatic shifts to the Republicans in a very short period of time. 

Counties like Perry and Stewart voted for McGovern.  They were voting for Kerry in 2004, and Obama retained about 40-45 percent of the vote in 2008 and 2012.  But now, Republican support there is similar to East Tennessee.

This area was secessionist during the Civil War so it supported Democrats for a long time. Democratic strength was further bolstered by the New Deal era; in recent decades, the dwindling of Greatest Generation voters (who grew up during the New Deal era) combined with the increasing nationalization of politics caused this area to shift R.

The TVA specifically meant that they long retained a very tangible connection to the New Deal. Some of the most loyally Democratic counties in Middle TN, such as Houston (which voted for Obama in 2008), lay on the banks of the Tennessee River.

[Sol]

By contrast, Western and Central Tennessee had a large number of slaves and plantations in the Antebellum period making the region much more favourable to the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

An interesting curiosity of Tennessee state politics is that West and East Tennessee have never been reliably won by the same party.

Haven't both been reliably Republican since 2004?

West Tennessee is swingy. I think Obama won it in 2008 and 2012, iirc.

In fairness that's basically 100% down to Memphis--outside of the Memphis area it's a Republican monolith barring random heavily Black areas.

[Alcibiades]

By contrast, Western and Central Tennessee had a large number of slaves and plantations in the Antebellum period making the region much more favourable to the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

An interesting curiosity of Tennessee state politics is that West and East Tennessee have never been reliably won by the same party.

Haven't both been reliably Republican since 2004?

West Tennessee is swingy. I think Obama won it in 2008 and 2012, iirc.

In fairness that's basically 100% down to Memphis--outside of the Memphis area it's a Republican monolith barring random heavily Black areas.

Yeah, exactly - 59% of West TN’s population is in Shelby County.

[Schiff for Senate]

By contrast, Western and Central Tennessee had a large number of slaves and plantations in the Antebellum period making the region much more favourable to the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

An interesting curiosity of Tennessee state politics is that West and East Tennessee have never been reliably won by the same party.

Haven't both been reliably Republican since 2004?

West Tennessee is swingy. I think Obama won it in 2008 and 2012, iirc.

That's because West Tennessee includes Memphis.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

By contrast, Western and Central Tennessee had a large number of slaves and plantations in the Antebellum period making the region much more favourable to the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

An interesting curiosity of Tennessee state politics is that West and East Tennessee have never been reliably won by the same party.

Haven't both been reliably Republican since 2004?

West Tennessee is swingy. I think Obama won it in 2008 and 2012, iirc.

In fairness that's basically 100% down to Memphis--outside of the Memphis area it's a Republican monolith barring random heavily Black areas.

Yeah, exactly - 59% of West TN’s population is in Shelby County.

In all fairness, Memphis is part and parcel of West Tennessee as much as Jackson or the blood red white rurals, so this angle of nitpicky makes no sense to me whatsoever. It'd be like talking about Nevada being an urban state voting Democratic then someone talks about how that is just one county out of seventeen.
(Grave apologies if I'm completely missing your point, y'all - I'm just puzzled as to why it would be relevant)

[Alcibiades]

By contrast, Western and Central Tennessee had a large number of slaves and plantations in the Antebellum period making the region much more favourable to the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

An interesting curiosity of Tennessee state politics is that West and East Tennessee have never been reliably won by the same party.

Haven't both been reliably Republican since 2004?

West Tennessee is swingy. I think Obama won it in 2008 and 2012, iirc.

In fairness that's basically 100% down to Memphis--outside of the Memphis area it's a Republican monolith barring random heavily Black areas.

Yeah, exactly - 59% of West TN’s population is in Shelby County.

In all fairness, Memphis is part and parcel of West Tennessee as much as Jackson or the blood red white rurals, so this angle of nitpicky makes no sense to me whatsoever. It'd be like talking about Nevada being an urban state voting Democratic then someone talks about how that is just one county out of seventeen.
(Grave apologies if I'm completely missing your point, y'all - I'm just puzzled as to why it would be relevant)

I wasn’t trying to say it didn’t count at all - just pointing out that it shouldn’t be that surprising that West TN is competitive for Dems considering its demographics.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

By contrast, Western and Central Tennessee had a large number of slaves and plantations in the Antebellum period making the region much more favourable to the Confederate cause during the Civil War.

An interesting curiosity of Tennessee state politics is that West and East Tennessee have never been reliably won by the same party.

Haven't both been reliably Republican since 2004?

West Tennessee is swingy. I think Obama won it in 2008 and 2012, iirc.

In fairness that's basically 100% down to Memphis--outside of the Memphis area it's a Republican monolith barring random heavily Black areas.

Yeah, exactly - 59% of West TN’s population is in Shelby County.

In all fairness, Memphis is part and parcel of West Tennessee as much as Jackson or the blood red white rurals, so this angle of nitpicky makes no sense to me whatsoever. It'd be like talking about Nevada being an urban state voting Democratic then someone talks about how that is just one county out of seventeen.
(Grave apologies if I'm completely missing your point, y'all - I'm just puzzled as to why it would be relevant)

I wasn’t trying to say it didn’t count at all - just pointing out that it shouldn’t be that surprising that West TN is competitive for Dems considering its demographics.

Ah. I see.

[NerdyBohemian]

If there’s mountains, there’s historic Republican support in the south.

[bagelman]

west has black people east doesn't

[E-Dawg]

west has black people east doesn't

It's actually really sad how accurately this explains the divide.

[bagelman]

west has black people east doesn't

It's actually really sad how accurately this explains the divide.

Yep, and the west had better conditions for slave plantations. The TN divide is the exemplar of the upper south vs. the deep south and the differing economic models of settlement leading to different cultures.