[southernnorthcarolina]

Southwest Florida is strongly Republican. President Bush carried Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, and Manatee Counties (the approximate areas being most directly affected, south to north along the Gulf Coast from Naples to Tampa Bay) with relative ease.

The retirees in the vicinity tend to come from the Midwest, as opposed to those in Palm Beach and Broward Counties on the Atlantic Coast, many of whom moved from the Northeast.

[samantha]

That is true,and Highlands and Polk counties are also either Midwesterners(a lot of Indiana,Ohio,and Michigan), or Southerners. These people are the salt of the earth.

[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

Very true. This hurricane is going up the I-4 corridor, the strongest Republican area of Florida (along with the panhandle area).