Grasping the idea of a Republican-controlled Arkansas was unimaginable years ago. The south was a normally a primary Democratic region but now it has altered from being the Democratic stronghold to a Republican base.  According to Counter Punch’s “How the South Became Republican: It’s About Race”, it was President Abraham Lincoln’s presidential elections in 1860 and 1864 and the democrat Lyndon Johnson’s election to the White House a century later in 1964 that rallied the Southern Politicians to enforce their conservative and segregationist stronghold. There were originally no Republicans in the South the first half of the 20th century. 

As George W. Bush was the first Republican to be elected to the White House from the South in the history of the United States. So in essence, when a Republican President from the South was elected, viewpoints change. There are also many other reasons for the Deep South’s development as a dependable 21st century political monoculture. From the backlash against the 1964 Civil Rights Act causing the South to switch to the Republican Party to the democratic office-holders at the local levels switching parties, it has been seen currently in even todays politics that the Democratic prone Deep South may be losing to the Republican Party.   

January 2013 marked the first time Republicans controlled the state legislature since 1874. According to Politico’s “Are Democrats done in the South? Arkansas governor’s race a test”, today we can see in Arkansas that as the state readies for the 2014 governor’s race, Republicans have a shot at cementing their new dominance in the longtime southern Democratic stronghold state. With this shift of changing bases and strongholds, the real question is: Can the Democrats still win in the South? Will the former Democratic Representative Mike Ross be able to win and beat out former Representative Asa Hutchinson, the Republican runner? That is a good question to think about within the future of Arkansas Politics. If Ross loses next year, republicans can essentially make history, having both the governorship and the Legislature since that same year.  

As Arkansas has a deeper Democratic Culture historically than some of the other southern states, the transition to the Republican Party has been slower. Also, Arkansas does not require voters to register party affiliation, but polls show the state is roughly evenly divided between democrats, Republicans, and Independents.    

According to Politio’s “Are Democrats done in the South? Arkansas governor’s race a test”, coming from the state that twice-elected Bill Clinton into presidency, and then now having an all-Republican House delegation, which is the first in well over a century. With Democratic Senator Mark Pryor having a competitive senate race in the polls against Republican Representative Tom Cotton, seeing something like this is definitely a first for legislature as well. If Tom Cotton wins, this means there would be two republican Senators holding office in Washington, D.C as well as an all-republican House delegation.    

As the south is becoming a more competitive territory for Democrats in the 2014 elections with Republican officeholders generally in good shape while a few Democrats will be struggling for their political lives. So whether you have Democratic or Republican views, knowing these changes happening in not only Arkansas’ politics but all around the south is essential for understanding our future legislative system.