FL, my state is sort of what you describe.
We have a saying here up in NE FL, the north is the old south and the south is the north.
I.E. South east FL is like being up in the north east/Caribbean , the middle is like the north but us up here in the north part, from the panhandle to my town is still the old south.
As we also say we are clinging to the Bible belt , I’;m just happy my county St Johns county is one of the most republican counties in the state, it has quite a large population and we all speak English to understand each other, oh and we have no Dems in power on the county commissioners
Have a friend that lives in St Johns and she is a big time conservative. Glad your area is hanging on..I left southern Virginia yrs ago because it was becoming so liberal I couldnt stand it.