Jackson Free Press

Mississippi is the second-most conservative state in the union, according to a poll released last week. The Republican Party, however, holds only a one-percentage point lead over Democrats in the state, which is statistically insignificant.

New Jersey surveying giant Gallup says that neighboring Alabama comes in at the No. 1 spot for conservatives, with Utah, Louisiana and Oklahoma tied for No. 3.

In a second poll asking whether individuals affiliate with Republicans or Democrats, Gallup found that whether people consider themselves to be conservative or liberal is tied to party affiliation, but it isn't a one-to-one relationship. Nationwide, only four states identify as solidly Republican in the second Gallup survey: Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Alaska.

In the Democratic column, 29 states identify solidly Democratic nationwide, including Arkansas and North Carolina in the South. In Mississippi, Republicans have a slight advantage, about 1 percent according to the poll, with 44 percent of Mississippians identifying with the GOP or leaning in that direction, and 43 percent identifying as Democrats or leaning that way. Those numbers make the Magnolia state politically competitive, along with South Carolina. Among the other Southern states, only Alabama shows a stronger tendency toward the GOP, with a 6 percent Republican advantage.

Conservatives are the largest single ideological group, Gallup reported in a June survey, with 40 percent of Americans surveyed identifying as conservative. In that poll, 35 percent said they held moderate political views and 21 percent said they were liberal.

Regionally, conservative states are clustered in the South and Midwest, with five of the top 10 most conservative states in each of those regions. The South, however, claims five of the top six spots, with Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina at Nos. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6, respectively. Utah, North and South Dakota, Idaho and Wyoming round out the top ten.

Not surprisingly, Washington, D.C. topped the list of the 10 most liberal states, followed by Massachusetts, Vermont, Oregon and Washington State. The other states in the top liberal category are New York, New Jersey, California, Hawaii and Connecticut, with regional clusters on the East and West Coasts.

Previous Comments

ID

151220

Comment

New sign on I-20 and I-55: Welcome to Mississippi - More Liberal than you think!

Author

gwilly

Date

2009-08-25T13:01:34-06:00

ID

151223

Comment

What qwilly?

Author

NewJackson

Date

2009-08-25T14:07:38-06:00

ID

151226

Comment

Not surprisingly, Washington, D.C. topped the list of the 10 most liberal states When did DC become a state?

Author

golden eagle

Date

2009-08-25T15:39:56-06:00

ID

151228

Comment

New Jack- you didn't get that? That there are more Dems that most people think therefore Mississippi is more Liberal than most people think?

Author

BubbaT

Date

2009-08-25T16:19:21-06:00

ID

151229

Comment

I'm with GE... When did DC become a state? They don't even have proper representation (which is a shame).

Author

kaust

Date

2009-08-25T17:02:32-06:00

ID

151233

Comment

A lot of Democrats in Mississippi are conservative. People made a real mistake when they mix up conservative and liberal with Republican and Democrat. This Gallup poll shows that, in fact. It also shows why Republicans in the state are willing to make asses out of themselves trying to get voter ID, and stop any kind of early voting. They're really hoping for anything that might keep that 1 percent from swinging the other direction. Even in Mississippi, Republicans are in trouble, relatively speaking. Assuming that all conservatives are against health care and in favor of all this ugly tea-party, birther mess may sound great to that base, but they are being pretty stupid about what it's going to take to hold onto to that tenuous lead.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-08-25T19:40:02-06:00

ID

151234

Comment

D.C. isn't part of any other state so is frequently designated as one for survey purposes. And no, they don't have voting representation in Congress, which is ridiculous.

Author

Ronni_Mott

Date

2009-08-25T19:43:00-06:00

ID

151235

Comment

As for D.C., obviously the poll surveyed it as if it's a state, as it's often lumped into polls and such. I'd imagine that most people reading this are intelligent enough to understand what that means.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2009-08-25T19:43:24-06:00

ID

151259

Comment

[quote]I'd imagine that most people reading this are intelligent enough to understand what that means.[/quote] Gee, No! Could you go back over that one more time? :) Quibbling aside, It's fun to see we won't run out of things to argue about anytime soon. I mean, outside of politics what can we talk about? Football?

Author

Ironghost

Date

2009-08-26T13:15:51-06:00

ID

151264

Comment

Libertarians ... still in 'Stealth Mode'!

Author

Macedonian

Date

2009-08-26T14:31:54-06:00