Abstract

In this study, I explore how Democrats maintained majorities in state legislatures long after the Republicans came to dominate federal elections in the South. In the years following the national Democratic party’s embrace of civil rights in 1964, Republicans rapidly made progress in federal elections in the South. This began with Presidential elections in 1964 when Barry Goldwater won all five Deep South states, and gained momentum in later election cycles. Despite the GOP’s momentum in national elections, Democrats maintained control of state legislatures well into the 21st century. In the immediate wake of the Civil Rights Act, Southern Democrats resisted Republican growth by defying the national Democratic party’s position on civil rights. As African Americans became part of the Democratic coalition, later generations of Democratic party leaders in the South carefully managed the legislative agenda to avoid splitting their coalition of African Americans and moderate white voters. I argue that Republicans finally overcame Democratic legislative majorities as national political forces came to dominate state legislative elections. Why were these wave elections so powerful? Because, by highlighting national Democratic policies that were locally unpopular, Republican challengers turned the Democratic legislators’ incumbency into a liability. As I demonstrate, the most significant Republican legislative gains in the South occurred in national wave elections. This started in 1972, when Republicans won prominent federal offices and continued in later blowout elections. The landslide election that first brought Republican Congressional majorities in 1994 eventually came to the state legislatures, culminating in the 2010 Republican sweeps. The new Republican majorities have changed the policy output, legislative organization, and culture of southern state legislatures. In the era of Democratic majorities, party label had little effect on the operation of government. Committee chairmanships were awarded across party lines, straight-party voting was rare, and party organizations were built largely around the personal organizations of party leaders. With the rise of Republican majorities, Washington-style partisanship has arrived in the state legislatures. With African American legislators and moderate whites no longer part of majority coalitions, the legislative output has taken a sharply conservative turn, particularly on social issues. Although Southern Democrats have long been more conservative than their national counterparts, much of the high-profile legislation to emerge out of the Republican-controlled legislatures would have been unlikely in even the most conservative of Southern Democratic majorities. Finally, party organizations are no longer built as they were under Democratic leaders; to varying degrees they now have professionalized structures. In sum, my dissertation demonstrates how national political tides have changed the partisan composition and organizing principles of Southern state legislatures. Gone is the old Southern politics where personal and regional factions controlled the legislatures. For better or for worse, Washington-style partisanship has arrived in Southern state capitols.