[SmithL]

Hmmmm,

It sure looks like a Blue to Red migration.

[ncountylee]

Northeast with 18 percent is the smallest region but still the noisiest.

[goldstategop]

Good New Year's Day news. For the Democrats, the outlook is bleak. Blue States keep losing population and political clout. You can say that for John Kerry, it was a high-water mark. That's why the MSM is not celebrating the shift in power to the South and the West.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[truth_seeker]

"We can only hope that redrawing the new congressional districts will be in the hands of dispassionate, nonpartisan bodies that will end the politically self-serving practice of carving out noncompetitive, one-party districts."

I believe it is up to each state to decide for their own state.

Since the high growth states are almost all Republican, I expect them to redistrict to maximize that party's benefit.

Overall, these population growth and migration trends favor conservatism. That is a good thing.

[CindyDawg]

When it's time to count, they might find these missing citizens. Then again, maybe the governor of LA will just cancel a census this time.

[Paul C. Jesup]

The South did indeed rise again; 36 percent of the nation's population lives there, putting it well ahead of the other regions -- the West with 23 percent, the Midwest with 22 percent and the Northeast with 18 percent.

It's nice to know the South is the most populated region in the U.S.

[Caipirabob]

Welcome to all our new conservative friends from the North to sunny Florida. As for you libs, please read our new gun laws and signal before you change lanes in traffic, you pathetic SOBs. You're in RED COUNTRY now, ya hear?

[zip]

Not all of this can be attributed to "immigration". Remember birth rates are lower in blue states due to so many same sex unions while red states still believe in sthe old fashioned way to live. OK trolls/libs, maybe it's a little tongue in cheek, but............oh forget it, flame away.

[AmericaUnited]

People are voting with their feet.

Pretty soon, the blue states will have to erect 'Berlin Walls' to keep their fellow comrades from escaping the hellholes.

[Soul Seeker]

N.H. has gone "blue" because Libs from MASS have flooded it to escape the mess they made.

Florida arguably is attracting more conservatives/Republicans then it is Liberals because of what jeb has done down there.

Really depends on the state whether this is good or bad.

[verity]

"Population shift has political implications"

The aging population will have far greater political implications.

[Kozak]

By 2010 this Wisconsonite and family will be Tarheels. Hopefully catching some sun on the beach....

[John D]

It sure looks like a Blue to Red migration.


I agree it is a Blue to Red migration, but I do not think it will change anything. The states where people are migrating to are already Republican states but most of the people doing the migrating are conservatives. We may pick up a couple seats in Red states, but we are going to loose some Red districts to the libs when the conservatives move out.

[FastCoyote]

"It sure looks like a Blue to Red migration."

What makes it a double or triple whammy to the Democrats is that one suspects it is on average the more conservative elements that make the move. At least, any businessman living in those high tax liberal states has a high incentive to move.

So, the liberal states are being gutted of their working class conservatives, One would therefore predict a collapse to deeper blue enclaves while the majority of the nation goes red or at least red-purple.

The squeals well be loud in 2010 when the census comes in.

[Clemenza]

All the population loss in New York is upstate (aka the Igloo).

[BnBlFlag]

The bad news is that the five high growth states mentioned have most of their growth in the Illegal Alien category.

[southernnorthcarolina]

It's a long-standing subject of debate on Free Republic: will the South become "blue" due to people moving in from the North?

I live in the fastest growing county in North Carolina. Union County was mostly rural two or three decades ago, save for its county seat town of Monroe. Now, however, the county, which lies on the southeastern edge of the Charlotte metro area, is exurban/suburban, and growing explosively. And yes, we have Yankees. Boy, do we have Yankees. Folks from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere are flooding in.

So, is Union County becoming "bluer"? Well, let's look at a couple of sets of Presidential election returns: 1980 and 2004.

1980
Carter (D) 10,073 (51.2%)
Reagan (R) 9,012 (45.8%)
Anderson (I) 487 (2.5%)
Other 116 (0.6%)

2004
Bush (R) 42,820 (70.2%)
Kerry 17,974 (29.5%)
Other 207 (0.3%)

In addition to the sharp movement toward the GOP, note that the total vote in Union County more than tripled in the intervening 24 years. I can't tell you how much of this growth is attributable to people moving in from the North, but I would venture to guess that it's well over half.

But... but... how can that be? All these people from blue states moving in, and yet Union County is getting redder? The answer is simple: we're not getting a cross-section of blue staters, but rather an atypical and largely self-selected subset. Corporate transfers, entrepreneurs, professionals, and even a sprinkling of retirees.

This is only one county, of course, and some of my "evidence" is anecdotal. But from where I sit, I'm not particularly worried about a Dem comeback in the South. Will the last Republican to leave New Jersey please turn out the lights?

[ContraryMary]

It sure looks like a Blue to Red migration.

Looks like it to me, too.

[wouldntbprudent]

The cultural zeitgeist in Blue states just gets too much to deal with when it's pretty easy these days to execute the "interstate cure."

[Age of Reason]

The only problem with this is population growth.

The more people per square mile, the more liberal they will think and vote.

[eyespysomething]

For the 19th straight year, Nevada grew at the fastest rate followed by Arizona, Idaho, Florida, Utah, Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, Delaware -- the only state outside the South and West among the top 10 -- and Oregon.