Red states and blue states
Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in blue states — in presidential and other statewide elections.[1] By contrast, states where the vote fluctuates between the Democratic and Republican candidates are known as "swing states" or "purple states". Examining patterns within states reveals that the reversal of the two parties' geographic bases has happened at the state level, but it is more complicated locally, with urban-rural divides associated with many of the largest changes.[2]
"Red state" and "Blue state" redirect here. For other uses, see Red State and Blue State.All states contain considerable amounts of both liberal and conservative voters (i.e., they are "purple") and only appear blue or red on the electoral map because of the winner-take-all system used by most states in the Electoral College.[3] However, the perception of some states as "blue" and some as "red" was reinforced by a degree of partisan stability from election to election — from the 2016 presidential election to the 2020 presidential election, only five states changed "color"; and as of 2020, 35 out of 50 states have voted for the same party in every presidential election since the red-blue terminology was popularized in 2000, with only 15 having swung between the 2000 presidential election and the 2020 election. Although many red states and blue states stay in the same category for long periods, they may also switch from blue to red or from red to blue over time.
Reaction[edit]
United States[edit]
The "Democratic blue" and "Republican red" color scheme is now part of the lexicon of American journalism.
Neither party national committee has officially accepted these color designations, though informal use by each party is becoming common. Both parties have since adopted logos that use their respective colors (a blue "D" for Democrats[48] and a red "GOP" for Republicans). National conventions for both major parties increasingly feature the parties' respective colors, from the colors emphasized on convention podiums to the color conventioneers can be seen wearing on the delegate floor. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee also alluded the color scheme when it launched a national "Red to Blue Program" in 2006.[49]
The scheme has found acceptance and implementation from the U.S. federal government as the Federal Election Commission report for the 2004 presidential election uses the red-Republican and blue-Democratic scheme for its electoral map.[50]
International[edit]
The choice of colors in this divide may appear counter-intuitive to non-American observers, as in most countries, red is associated with socialist, communist, or social democratic parties, while blue is associated with conservative (especially liberal conservative) parties. For example, the major center-right conservative parties in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Italy, Spain and France all use blue or its shades (whether officially or unofficially) whereas the major socialist, communist, or social democratic parties in each country are associated with red. If the U.S. followed such a pattern, blue would be used for the Republicans and red for the Democrats. However, the current U.S. scheme has become so ingrained in the American election system that foreign sources who cover U.S. elections, such as the BBC, Der Spiegel and El Mundo follow with the red-Republican, blue-Democratic scheme for U.S. elections.[51][52][53]
Usage elsewhere[edit]
Australia[edit]
In Australia, the centre-right Liberal Party uses the colour blue and the centre-left Labor Party uses the colour red. The formal alliance between the two main centre-right political parties in Australia (i.e the Liberal Party and National Party), known as the Coalition, also uses blue (although the National Party itself uses dark green). While the terminology used in the United States is sometimes used in Australia (although less commonly), the terms "Liberal state" (or "Coalition state") and "Labor state" are generally used instead of the American terms.
As the Coalition is dominant in regional and rural areas, states where over 40% of the population live outside the state capital typically have higher numbers of Coalition supporters.
However, state politics and federal politics are separate and many states vote for different parties in state and federal elections. While Queensland and Western Australia have Labor governments, federally both states have almost always voted for the Coalition (although the latter has shifted to Labor more recently on both a state and federal level). The Northern Territory (which also has a Labor government) has also historically voted primarily for the Coalition. Tasmania has also been an important state for both parties throughout the past 50 years, due to the fact that of the five Tasmanian seats in the House of Representatives, there have been times where one party has won all five of them (currently Tasmania has two Liberal seats (Bass and Braddon) and two Labor seats (Franklin and Lyons), the remaining seat (Clark) being held by an independent). Queensland and Tasmania were considered the two states that delivered Scott Morrison's unpredicted win at the 2019 federal election and both states are the only two where less than 50% of the population resides in the capital city (Brisbane and Hobart, respectively), which is important due to the Coalition's dominance in regional Australia.
Of the 29 federal elections held since 1949, the federal two-party-preferred vote in Queensland has been won by Labor just three times: in 1961, 1990 and 2007 (in the latter election the Labor leader Kevin Rudd was a Queenslander); and in Western Australia just six times: in 1969, 1983, 1984, 1987, 2001 (when the Labor leader, Kim Beazley, was a Western Australian) and 2022. In comparison, in the ACT, Labor has won the two-party-preferred vote in every election except the 1975 election.[54]
In Australia, the leader of the party that forms government (wins a majority of seats in the House of Representatives) becomes Prime Minister, who does not always win the primary vote or even the two-party-preferred vote (although the later scenario is rare for federal elections, last occurring in 1998).