Tuesday, December 19, 2017

The ole' switcheroo

"The Republican and Democrat parties switched."

I'm hearing this less. What worries me is that I'm probably not hearing it much because it has become an accepted fact (even though it's not true, but we'll get into that). So, I've already asked about the racist Senator Robert Byrd, elected continuously by the Democrats of West Virginia from 1950 until his death in 2010. I can't get anyone to point out when he or, more importantly, when his constituents switched parties.

So I'm going to ask the same of the southern states. In the South, there are many cities which are currently Democrat strongholds. These cities are unlikely to vote in anything other than Democrat mayors. So, if the party switch theory holds true, then these cities must have had Republican mayors during the time of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Right? And if not then, surely the Republicans had the run of the place after the Civil War ended in 1865. Right? Surely there isn't an unbroken string of "racist-Democrats" in the racist-South up until modern day.

At some point, the constituency voted in the "non-racist-Republicans" who eventually transformed into the "non-racist-Democrats" of today.

Right?

Wrong.

Atlanta:
From 1855 until today, there have been two terms where the mayor of Atlanta was Republican (1871-1872 & 1877-1879).
157 years Democrat - 5 years Republican

New Orleans:
From 1866 until today, there have been two terms where the mayor of New Orleans was Republican (1867-1868 & 1870-1872).
146 years Democrat - 5 years Republican

Washington D.C.:
From 1910 until today, there have been zero terms where the mayor of Washington D.C. was Republican.
During a period from 1878-1967, the "mayor" was a Board of Commissioners appointed by the President of the United States. The president of the Board, elected by the Board, served as the city's Chief Executive, acting essentially as a "mayor". In all that time, there were only three Republicans who served as the president of the Board.
107 years Democrat

Richmond, VA:
Since 1840 until today, there have been two terms where the mayor of Richmond was Republican (1868-1870 & 1988-1990).
171 years Democrat - 6 years Republican

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