“They lost the south in the 1994 midterms.”
A lot of people have a distorted sense of history. The South was SOLID DEMOCRAT until 1994 and took until about 1998 to become solid Republican.
Bill Clinton forced the Southern Democrats, who would be considered ‘moderates’ today to choose a side - either go hard-left with him, or be ‘nobodies’ in the Democrat Party. They chose far-left, and paid the price, starting in 1994.
Reagan and Bush carried numerous southern states in 1980, 1984, and 1988. Clinton won some back in 1992 and 1996.
Since 2000, Republicans have done very well in the south. Maybe not solid. But close to it.