What I would say about Virginia is that Federal Government employees, and employees of nominally private government contractors, are a whole different case from employees of truly private companies, and entrepreneurs, and retirees. My view is that the transplants to Virginia (whether from the northern U.S. or elsewhere) are not particularly representative of transplants to other southern states.
The election numbers don't lie. In NC, the areas which are growing fastest, and seeing the biggest influx of northerners, are Republican, and becoming more so. Now, I would concede, based on observation only as opposed to election results, that the new arrivals here may have a tinge of RINOism, especially on social issues. But don't try to raise their taxes, reassign their kids to other schools in the name of racial balance, take away their guns, or stop voter-ID laws.
You have a point in that those moving into northern Virginia likely are not typical of transplants moving into other southern states from other regions in that the former are drawn there by the Washington money dispensary. You obviously have been following these demographic trends much more than I have and I appreciate your insights. Good reply, sir.
I take issue with this, in part. I am an executive in the defense industry and know the workforce well, at least in the Defense industry. Many are former and retired military members and wherever they live, they tend to help paint their communities red. Of course, other departments such as HHS, DHS, HUD are quite the opposite, but they don't have the budgets to support large numbers of contractors. I think that the government contractor workforce, on balance, votes on the right side of the ledger.
However, when you are one level removed, to the services and infrastructure that supports government spending, I think the opposite effect is in force. Here, the weight and abundance of the federal dollar tilts the balance to Big Government fans. Either directly or indirectly they see the advantage and vote for Democrats. Virginia is becoming a vassal state