The social and demographic characteristics of southern politicians

Abstract

The once solidly Democratic South no longer exists. In recent years the Republican Party has made substantial gains in the South, particularly in elections for national offices. This paper uses data collected from Congressional Directories to examine the differences in the social and demographic characteristics of Republican and Democratic senators and representatives elected from southern states between 1960 and 1980. Republican members of Congress are more likely to come from border states, those with some Republican tradition, and states receiving larger numbers of in‐migrants. Furthermore, elected Republicans are more likely to have been born and educated outside the South and tend to have higher social status than the southern Democrats elected to Congress.