Mrs. Vinnybass & I were talking about this. Even in some solidly conservative states, it seems the capitol cities lean more left. Admittedly, I don't know the details of every state, so help me out here. Are there state capitols which are as red as the state overall?

Large cities are generally more left. Capital cities tend to be large metro areas.

One word, Austin

Yes. Grifters gravitate toward politics.

Here in SC, the legislature is filled with Republicans that continually vote like Democrats. And we continue to vote weasels like Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott into office.

In Tennessee, the largest cities, Memphis and Nashville, are run by Democrats. Memphis is a crime-ridden dump, and Nashville's problems have been increasing for years.

Steve Deace has an excellent article "Gangsters, Grifters, and Crusaders", easily Googled, about the three basic types of politicians. Pretty interesting.

Cheyenne, Wyoming

That's certainly the case in Arkansas with Little Rock. It's one of a few liberal bastions in an overwhelmingly conservative state.

Little Rock and the small far Eastern Arkansas area that always vote blue largely have to do with an overabundance of the poor "where's my free shit" crowd. They also happen to have some of the highest crime in the state.

As opposed to the other smaller liberal areas elsewhere in AR that are more built around cores of old hippies (Eureka Springs, and Hot Springs to a lesser extent) or liberal academics and artists (Fayetteville). These smaller areas are blue enough to drive local politics leftward but not enough to outvote their red neighbors and flip the whole county like Little Rock.

But they're also bolstered by some remnants of the old Southern Democract holdouts from back when AR was solidly blue, who vote D because they've always voted D, because their parents always voted D, because their grandparents always voted D, etc... without bothering to realize that the D of today is widely divorced from the D of a couple generations ago. My ex-in-laws were that way, a perfect example of cognitive dissonance. Small town southern ranchers who walk and talk conservative ideas but yet would check the box for anyone with a D next to their name because that's what they've always done.

Indianapolis is blue in triple red Indiana.

Maybe the attraction of State jobs ?

This is pretty much the norm everywhere. Cities are liberal, suburbs and rural areas are conversative. Charlotte and Raleigh/Durham are great examples in a conservative state. We also have a massive influx of liberals from NY, NJ, and CA.

Leftists congregate because they are naturally collective minded. Conservatives are individualists and prefer open range so to speak. Generalizations, I recognize, but that is my observation. Also the power of Leftists is they cooperate, organize and cover for each other. Again, they are collectivists. That’s why communism is so appealing to them. Conservatives are like cats. They cooperate in cliques, they quarrel and separate easily. They do not cover for each other. They love the virtue signal of shunning. Generalizations.

Recently though, I’ve seen a puritanical movement from the Left that is fracturing the dems. Antipodally, the conservatives appear to be adhesive in retention of excommunicated democrats. Republicans are unifying like never before in my lifetime. It illustrates the fluid nature of political strategy and the protuberance of human nature.

Which is the capital of Kentucky, Louisville or Lexington?

Neither, it’s Frankfort.

Yeah, I know, old joke.

While both Louisville and Lexington are enclaves of Democrat Party leftism, Frankfort isn’t far behind but only because Kentucky was so longly controlled by Democrats until the early 2000s. The bureaucrats are deeply entrenched but are dying off and retiring.

Eventually, I believe Frankfort will go neutral (purple) or mildly pink within the next few years.

Already there is a SUPER MAJORITY of Republicans in both Houses of the State Legislature and it easily overrides the vetoes of “Baby Andy” Beshear, who is looking at 2028 as the Dem nominee for President.

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Whoever coined the phrase..."Democrats are for the working class. Republicans are for the rich." Has had a great run in history as many still think this way, even contrary to current evidence.

When I work the polls, many ask, "Where is the D lever?".

Agree with the responses. Larger metro areas with no exceptions I can think of off hand, lean democrat. Look at any of the colorized maps showing the results of the last election. Even in “ blue states” you often see a sea of red with small concentrations of blue blips in the cities only.

Most of the time yes. One big reason is that government programs are usually located in capitols or big cities.

Quite literally, free handouts are more readily available near the government centers.

Whorelando IE Orange County, is Red, lots of PR folks here, and all the normal city folk that tend to congregate there, poor and wealthy as the old neighborhoods are bought up by upscale white urban families.

100% of the time in the 5 states I've resided.

Alaska was an interesting one.

Juneau is 32,000 people and is the capitol. The legislature meets once a year for 120 days so the legislature doesn't live there. Essentially, legislature fills hotels in winter and tourists fill hotels in summer. It's a liberal small town.

Anchorage is 290,000 people (i.e. 40% of state population). It's a liberal big city. It's gotten more liberal since I left in 2014 and from the outside looking in they have adopted nearly every Demonrat social experiment.

The interesting thing about the state gov't is nearly every state office in Juneau has been duplicated (or larger) in Anchorage. You can't swing a dead cat in Anchorage without hitting a federal, state, or local gov't employee.

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Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

You all have confirmed what I figured.

Is there even one which is not more left than its home state. I couldn't think of any.

Without a doubt, Texas is a red state, but Austin is 60% Democrat, same with the cities of Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso. But the population of these half dozen major cities amount to less than 7 million out of the 30 million in the state, so the tail does not wag the dog. Similar situation in FL. Utah is a very red state as well, but Salt Lake City is left leaning blue.

Large cities of each state is where minorities, gays, and believers of govt. tend to live, nature of the beast.

quote:

Originally posted by vinnybass:
You all have confirmed what I figured.

Is there even one which is not more left than its home state. I couldn't think of any.

Carson is redder than Reno or Vegas. compared to the rest of the state it's San Francisco but that's more a reflection of "small town" Nevada.

quote:

Originally posted by MNSIG:
Large cities are generally more left. Capital cities tend to be large metro areas.

This. Large cities typically have a higher percentage of lower income households and many of those dependent on the government.