Jesse Helms and Electoral Change in Southern Politics

Southeastern Geographer Vol. 30, No. 1, May 90, pp. 68-73 JESSE HELMS AND ELECTORAL CHANGE IN SOUTHERN POLITICS Gerald L. Ingalls Since V. O. Key penned his magnificent treatment of southern politics in 1949, the South has witnessed massive electoral change: in partisanship , in racial composition ofthe electorate, and in the competitiveness ofthe Democratic and Republican parties in national and statewide elections. Both national and regional forces have been causes of this change. For instance, Southern Republicans have successfully coattailed on strong presidential candidates. (J) But as beneficial as a strong ticket leader may be, the fortunes of Southern Republicans also depend on their ability to build their own political support base. Competitive state-level Republican parties have emerged as a consequence of the sweeping social, economic, and political changes which have reshaped the South including "the replacement of the agrarian middle class's traditionalists by the entrepreneurial individualists of the new middle class as the central source of regional leadership." (2) This emerging middle class reflected the increasing levels ofurbanization and industrialization in the South. Together with the demographic changes which accompanied them, these processes drastically altered the southern political arena. For example, while the "Old South" found its leaders in the black belt, the "New South" searched for its leaders in mediumsized urban places or in metropolitan settings. (3) While the old Southern Republican Party found much of its support in the mountains, the new GOP found adherents in urban and metropolitan settings. (4) A CHANGING SOUTH AND JESSE HELMS. In most respects North Carolina and its 18-year incumbent senator Jesse Helms seem to epitomize this changing South. Building on an existing manufacturing (textile ) base, the state has witnessed substantial new economic development and increasing levels of urbanization over the past three decades. In politics the North Carolina Republican Party has steadily improved its competitive edge since 1948 (Fig. 1). Since 1972 Republicans have won 8 of the 12 elections for governor and senator. Only an incumbent Dr. Ingalls is Professor ofGeography at the University ofNorth Carolina at Charlotte in Charlotte, NC 28223. Vol. XXX, No. 1 69 60 50 40 30 SENATE VOTE GOVERNOR VOTE 20 19481958196819781988 Fig. 1. Rise of Republican competitiveness in North Carolina. senator, Robert Morgan in 1974, and a two-term governor, Jim Hunt in 1976 and 1980, have been able to give the Democrats landslide election victories. Within this tide of rising competitiveness is a strong current of alternative republicanism—with a small r. Jesse Helms and the Congressional Club, a political support group committed to Jesse Helms and to the support of candidates who adopt the Helms brand of Conservatism (with a big C), have combined to win four of the Senate races— Helms in 1972, 1978, and 1984 and John East in 1980. The Congressional Club and Jesse Helms, while tacitly Republican, have had a higher level of commitment to ideological purity than partisan identification . Helms and the Club took Conservatism as their principal banner with republicanism a secondary agenda item. While North Carolina may well reflect southern political, social, and economic change and notwithstanding the apparent spectacular success of the GOP within the state, there is some question about the political structure that has emerged. Is this structure based on a strong, newly emergent commitment to Republican partisanship, or is at least part ofit committed to Jesse Helms personally? Does the Congressional Club and voters who are faithful to Jesse Helms support him because he is a Republican or because he is Jesse Helms? This paper argues that Jesse Helms, despite his identification with the Republican Party and apparent role in its rise in the South, actually is not representative of the mainstream GOP and has a pattern of electoral support different from 70 Southeastern Geographer Piedmont Mountains Coastal Plain Tidewater Fig. 2. Regions of North Carolina. more traditional Republican candidates. It will analyze the spatial patterns of electoral support for Helms and for Jim Martin, a more mainstream GOP candidate, to identify their similarities and differences. THE GEOGRAPHIC PATTERN OF THE VOTE FOR JESSE HELMS. The success of Jesse Helms, like most Southern Republicans, has come in large part because of his ability to fashion a...