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Metropolitan-Rural Voting Patterns In U.S. Legislative Elections, Elizabeth A. Stiles, Larry Schwab

Political Science

This paper examines the relationship between partisan political success, in both the United States House of Representatives and in the lower houses of U.S. state legislatures, and distance from the central city. The increasing Republican success over time, first in suburbs generally, and then in outer suburbs, is illustrated. Correspondingly, the paper shows that Democrats have retained their advantage in the central city, lost advantage in the rural areas and compete most effectively in inner ring suburbs. Also, different measures of distance from the central city (distance in miles, in types of living arrangements (e.g. urban, suburban, and rural) and …