Introduction: The South: A Region in Transition

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2024

Publication Title

2020 Presidential Election in the South

Abstract

In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, many within the Republican Party entered a period of soul-searching as to their party’s future, not only in terms of 2022 and beyond but also for what the party stands for. With former President Donald Trump still looming large within the Republican Party, the party’s direction remains murky at this point. The South, sans Virginia, no longer looks nearly as monolithic in presidential politics. Much as Trump’s future impact on the GOP remains unclear, so it is a bit uncertain what the role of the South will be going forward in presidential elections. In many ways, the region and Donald Trump are joined at the hip. While Trump was enormously popular in the rural South among white voters, the combination of Trump’s rhetoric, campaign style, and the COVID-19 pandemic all led to high negative feelings for him among urban and suburban voters of all races. Simultaneously, Donald Trump was able to unite voters in one camp and divide them in another, all the while calling into question the traditional post–World War II Republican belief system. This was no small feat.

First Page

1

Last Page

4

DOI

10.5040/9781978726819_1

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