Democrats bullish on South after historic midterms gains

The Hill ^ | November 15, 2026 | Julia Mueller

[MinorityRepublican]

Democrats are seeing new opportunities in the South after stunning midterm victories in Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.

The party’s wins were both big and broad: It flipped highly competitive Senate seats in North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Mississippi, delivered new Democratic governors in the Lone Star State and Georgia, and took control of the state Houses in Texas, Georgia and North Carolina.

Now, Democrats in the South are calling on their party to rethink their approach and invest more heavily in the region’s voting blocs ahead of the 2028 presidential election.

“The South is not just winnable; it also completely changes the calculus of the path of victory for the presidency if any Southern states are in play,” said Fred Hicks, a Democratic strategist based in Georgia and Florida.

“I think Democrats need to take a page from Republicans’ 2024 strategy where they decided to try to penetrate the blue wall, and I think we need to look at that with the red wall,” Hicks added. “We should not cede anything in the South.”

After a string of blue wins in the South and days of suspense in a razor-tight race, Democrat Scott Colom this week flipped the Senate seat in Mississippi for the first time in decades — the latest signal, party operatives argue, that Democrats shouldn’t count out the South.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a rare Democrat to lead a deep-red state, said on the social platform X that “for too long, Southern Democrats have been overlooked, left out, and even looked down upon” — but that, in the wake of Colom’s win, they’re “on the rise.”

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TOPICS: Politics
KEYWORDS: texas

[brownsfan]

The stunning spread of mental illness coupled with massive DSA cheating has me deeply concerned about our future.

[smokingfrog]

[buckalfa]

Well 20+ years of Republican office holders in Southern state houses has produced a breed of politicians that are complacent and feel entitled. Voters and conservative principles be damned of course.

Also consider migration between the states. Demographics are destiny.

[Gnome1949]

Just four southern RED (still) states - Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma contain 1.6 million licensed hunters with high-powered, scoped rifles.

Hundreds of thousands more are similarly armed in those states and ain’t taking any DO DO from traitors.

I say, “Go ahead and try to take over those states !” See what happens to communists and Muslim terrorists who want a fight with patriots there.

[napscoordinator]

Tennessee came close to having a Democrat governor. way too close comfort

[PGR88]

Why is it places like Texas, and even Kansas can have a “blue wave” - but permanently one-party, Democrat states like New York and California will never, ever see a “red wave?”

[AbolishCSEU]

I live in ultra blue New York (which really means one party rule out of Albany and NYC) We loved driving down to red states and breathing the air down there (freedom!).

No more. Our tourist dollars will end up in the Caribbean. This past year was our last Mardi Gras in Biloxi.

[AbolishCSEU]

Preventing cockroaches is easier than getting rid of them. Decades of indoctrination of young people now voting for Marxism are paying off for the DSA.

[MinorityRepublican]

It's not the only explanation, but if you speak to a Republican, he'll tell you that he is open to voting for a Democrat especially if he's a "centrist" like Bill Clinton or John Fetterman.

Now you can ask the same question to a Democrat, he won't consider voting for a Republican even if it is Abraham Lincoln and he is about to free the slaves!

[napscoordinator]

I totally understand what you’re saying. It’s a shame how far left we went this election. however, the pendulum will spring back our way sooner than we think. The messaging was horrible leading up to the election. Telling voters that the economy was the best ever was probably one of the stupidest things you could say when people see it daily. the majority of Americans think gas and food prices are the economy. It doesn’t matter whether that’s true or false that’s the truth for them so when we don’t try to show empathy, then we get results like Tuesday.

[Bonemaker]

Carpetbagging/Reconsruction volume 2.

[ProgressingAmerica]

Best I can tell the GOP has abandoned The South.

When do they fight for it? If I were in a court room, I do not think I could get a guilty conviction. I would not take this case, it would look bad upon my fake forum/discussion law firm to be involved with such an overwhelming loss.

[FLT-bird]

I think its a one time blip....the result of the very unpopular Iran War and Trump getting into a Neocon echo chamber.

[Bonemaker]

“Tennessee came close to having a Democrat governor. way too close comfort”

Nashville/Memphis...infernal infiltrated filthy big cities again.

[central_va]

The boardroom is the last refuge of the GOP.

[lodi90]

“The South” has been gone and in the history books for a couple decades give or take a few years.

[MinorityRepublican]

Trump getting into a Neocon echo chamber.

Seems to happen to all Republicans.

[lodi90]

Communist Democrats have an ideology. Many of those predisposed against them do not and have vastly different agendas. That coalition is always prone to fracturing especially in the age of Tik Tok “news”, influencer celebrities, etc.

[lodi90]

Communist Democrats have an ideology. Many of those predisposed against them do not and have vastly different agendas. That coalition is always prone to fracturing especially in the age of Tik Tok “news”, influencer celebrities, etc.