Alabama Governors: A Political History of the State

Political Maps of Alabama

PoliTiCAl mAPs oF AlAbAmA An intrastate geographic division played a major role in Alabama’s politics from the antebellum period to the middle of the twentieth century. The black belt, where the state’s largest plantation owners and a majority of its black population lived, usually differed in its choices of candidates from north Alabama’s hill country and southeast Alabama’sWiregrass region.This was particularly true in controversial elections where the issues were relatively clear. The hill andWiregrass regions were home to the state’s small white farmers ,referred to in many texts as “yeomen.’’ These yeomen were fiercely independent people who resented the power of the black belt planters, opposed special privileges for the wealthy, and voted for candidates who championed the common white man. in the nineteenth century they were Jacksonian Democrats and Populists,and in the twentieth century they supported candidates most closely identified with those at the lower end of the economic scale. The first three maps demonstrate the extraordinary continuity of that north-south political division in the 1855, 1892, and 1946 Alabama gubernatorial elections.The fourth map,from the results of the 1990 election,suggests that as the state’s economy moved away from agriculture and became more industrial, the post-1960s political scenery changed, dividing along urban and rural lines rather than north-south. map 1 reflects the areas of strongest support for Alabama’s most obstinate Jacksonian Democrat, John A. Winston, in the 1855 general election. map 2 reveals the areas where the Populist reuben Kolb won majorities over his Democratic opponent in 1892. map 3 points out areas where the neoPopulist Democrat James e. Folsom won his largest majorities in the 1946 Democratic primary runoff. map 4 includes interstate highway 65, which runs the full length of the state. readers will note the unusual support for republican candidate Guy hunt in 1990 in the areas nearest to i-65, which xviii / Political maps of Alabama are more heavily urban and industrial,and the strength of his opponent,Paul hubbert, as you move away from i-65. The 1990, 2002, and 2006 maps demonstrate profound changes that have taken place in Alabama’s political party system. between reconstruction and 1980 no republican won statewide political office,and none was elected governor until 1986. The 1990 and 2002 maps show how divided the state had become in the intense two-party contests for the governorship in those years. The 2006 map, however, indicates a state becoming overwhelmingly republican, a trend that continued in the 2010 election. 1855 Gubernatorial election, 1855. shaded areas indicate counties that gave 55 percent or more of the vote to Jacksonian Democrat John A.Winston. 1892 Gubernatorial election, 1892. shaded counties gave a majority to Populist candidate reuben F. Kolb. 1946 Democratic gubernatorial primary, 1946. shaded areas gave 55 percent or more of the vote to James e. Folsom. 1990 Gubernatorial election, 1990. shaded areas indicate counties where a majority voted for Democrat hubbert; unshaded areas indicate a majority vote for republican hunt. 2002 Gubernatorial election, 2002. Dark counties are those carried by Democrat Don siegelman, and white counties by republican bob riley. 2006 Gubernatorial election, 2006.White counties are those won by republican bob riley, and dark counties by Democrat lucy baxley. AlAbAmA Governors ...