Exactly two months ago, we noted the growing trend of local officials in the South changing their party afifliation from Democratic to Republican. Today we link to two more stories on the trend, one a regional piece about a state legislature, the other a national story that focuses on local officials.
Gina Smith of The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., reports that only 19 of the 124 members of the South Carolina House are white Democrats, and "many lawmakers predict" there will be fewer than 10 after this year's redistricting. African American Democrats have 28 House seats. "With Republican majorities drawing new S.C. House and Senate districts this spring, the expectation is some rural House districts, longtime strongholds for white Democrats, will be erased," because rural South Carolina is losing population.
Phil Noble, chairman of the S.C. New Democrats, reminded Smith that in places with partisan elections, “Democrats still hold a majority of county council seats. Think of all the Democratic mayors -- Beaufort, Charleston, Georgetown, Florence, Sumter, Rock Hill, Gaffney, Clemson, Columbia.” (Read more)
Richard Fausset of the Los Angeles Times leads his story with a more unusual example, a black Democrat who became a Republican: "For Democrats, Ashley Bell was the kind of comer that a party builds a future on: A young African American lawyer, he served as president of the College Democrats of America, advised presidential candidate John Edwards and spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. But after his party's midterm beat-down in November, Bell, a commissioner in northern Georgia's Hall County, jumped ship."
Bell, 30, told Fausset he had serious issues with President Obama's health-care reform. "Bell's defection is one of dozens by state and local Democratic officials in the Deep South in recent months that underscore Republicans' continued consolidation of power in the region — a process that started with presidential politics but increasingly affects government down to the level of dogcatcher."
David Avella, president of GOPAC, a Republican group that supports state and local candidates, told Fausset that Democrats' decline at the local level has been spurred by the Internet and 24-hour cable news, which have allowed Republicans to "more easily connect local politics with what's happening nationally." (Read more)
Gina Smith of The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., reports that only 19 of the 124 members of the South Carolina House are white Democrats, and "many lawmakers predict" there will be fewer than 10 after this year's redistricting. African American Democrats have 28 House seats. "With Republican majorities drawing new S.C. House and Senate districts this spring, the expectation is some rural House districts, longtime strongholds for white Democrats, will be erased," because rural South Carolina is losing population.
Phil Noble, chairman of the S.C. New Democrats, reminded Smith that in places with partisan elections, “Democrats still hold a majority of county council seats. Think of all the Democratic mayors -- Beaufort, Charleston, Georgetown, Florence, Sumter, Rock Hill, Gaffney, Clemson, Columbia.” (Read more)
Richard Fausset of the Los Angeles Times leads his story with a more unusual example, a black Democrat who became a Republican: "For Democrats, Ashley Bell was the kind of comer that a party builds a future on: A young African American lawyer, he served as president of the College Democrats of America, advised presidential candidate John Edwards and spoke at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. But after his party's midterm beat-down in November, Bell, a commissioner in northern Georgia's Hall County, jumped ship."
Bell, 30, told Fausset he had serious issues with President Obama's health-care reform. "Bell's defection is one of dozens by state and local Democratic officials in the Deep South in recent months that underscore Republicans' continued consolidation of power in the region — a process that started with presidential politics but increasingly affects government down to the level of dogcatcher."
David Avella, president of GOPAC, a Republican group that supports state and local candidates, told Fausset that Democrats' decline at the local level has been spurred by the Internet and 24-hour cable news, which have allowed Republicans to "more easily connect local politics with what's happening nationally." (Read more)
No comments:
Post a Comment