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  Political Geography & Demographics (Moderators: muon2, 15 Down, 35 To Go)
  Indiana (search mode)
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Author Topic: Indiana  (Read 12701 times)
Filuwaúrdjan
Realpolitik
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Posts: 67,610
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« on: September 13, 2004, 02:40:37 PM »

If we break Indiana into rough geo-political regions:

Gary-Hammond

A blue collar (more steel is made in Lake County than any other part of the U.S), heavily unionised area and by far the most Democratic part of Indiana

South Bend-Elkhart

The South Bend area is very "ethnic" (the largest Hungarian Community in the U.S is in the area) and fairly Blue Collar, while Elkhart is solidly Republican. Overall the region swings about *a lot*

Fort Wayne

With the exception of a few blue collar districts in Fort Wayne itself, Fort Wayne (along with it's suburbs) is a GOP stronghold (and has been since the Civil War)

The Corn Belt

Sterotypical Indiana: lots of farms and small towns, "rednecks", religious zealots... The Cornbelt covers most of the state and is the backbone of the Indiana GOP (and has been Republican since the Civil War).

Indianapolis and Suburbs

While Indianapolis itself leans Democrat, the wealthy suburbs of Indianapolis are the most Republican parts of the state with several counties voting for Bush with over 70% of the vote.

Muncie

The "Middletown" area is fairly centrist and tends to swing around a bit... (Clinton in '96, Bush in '00) it also has a quirky independent streak (Perot did well in the Muncie area in '92)

Indiana Coalfield

Basically an extension of the Southern Illinois Coalfield, the area includes Vermillion County (after Lake, the most reliably Democratic county in Indiana) and overall leans Democrat. The largest City (Terre Haute) is a traditional hotbed of Populism.

Ohio Valley

A traditional swing area, the Ohio Valley tends to be socially conservative and economically leftist and has a habit of producing large swings without little warning.
Democrats often do well in the (very) blue collar counties in the Southeast of the area.
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Filuwaúrdjan
Realpolitik
Atlas Institution
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Posts: 67,610
United Kingdom


« Reply #1 on: September 13, 2004, 03:54:39 PM »

Gary-Hammond is more democratic not because of unions, but because of the high volume of African Americans living there.  

While Gary is heavily Democrat, the rest of the area isn't (black pop. of Lake County is 25%) and is strongly Democrat because of Union ties.

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Black pop. of Indianapolis City: 25%

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Bloomington doesn't really fit anywhere...
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Filuwaúrdjan
Realpolitik
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Posts: 67,610
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« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2004, 12:29:44 PM »

What makes Indiana unique (most of it's political regions are spill-overs from other states, the Indiana Coalfield is very like the Illinois Coalfield, the Ohio Valley spans several states and has similer politics all over, as does the Cornbelt) is the ultra-GOP suburbs of Indianapolis
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Filuwaúrdjan
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Posts: 67,610
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« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2004, 06:12:58 AM »

Also, in response to other posts, Muncie, Anderson, and Ft. Wayne are big-time blue-collar towns.  They each have huge GM factories.  But they are still Republican.

Ft. Wayne is (for historical reasons mostly) Republican (though some blue collar/ethnic parts of the City lean Dem. The suburbs are ultra-Republican) and "Middletown" proper leans Dem (though the county it's in swings about a lot)
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Filuwaúrdjan
Realpolitik
Atlas Institution
*****
Posts: 67,610
United Kingdom


« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2004, 06:46:50 AM »

Also, in response to other posts, Muncie, Anderson, and Ft. Wayne are big-time blue-collar towns.  They each have huge GM factories.  But they are still Republican.

Ft. Wayne is (for historical reasons mostly) Republican (though some blue collar/ethnic parts of the City lean Dem. The suburbs are ultra-Republican) and "Middletown" proper leans Dem (though the county it's in swings about a lot)
Muncie's also got a pretty liberal uni, don't know how large it is. Once met a professor from there.

Ball State Uni IIRC
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