It’s a mix. The northeast and west coast are the main stronghold of blue states, but there are a number of red states on the map that indicate states which have received requests.
However, just because a state is considered red or blue does not necessarily mean that there isn’t still a good mix of political leanings, which can be reflected when breaking it down to the county level. Blue states in general just have higher urban populations, while red states have higher rural populations.
Trends also shift over time. Florida used to be a major swing state (purple state) due to its large number of electoral votes and political ambiguity, and was the center of the political upset in 2000 where George W. Bush essentially stole the election from Al Gore (W’s brother Jeb was also the governor of Florida at the time). But because Florida is a popular choice for retirees from all over the US who primarily lean conservative, the huge population boom of geriatrics all over the state tipped the scales away from the blue city voters and turned it into a reliably red state.
The inverse also happens, with New Hampshire being another prominent swing state in years past, but now votes reliably blue like the rest of New England in the Northeast. Arizona is also currently a swing state that used to be a Republican stronghold. But both of those states are not nearly as populous as Florida, and so they do not count for as many votes.
But Republicans are also deathly afraid of the same thing happening to Texas, which has a number of massive cities that are more blue than red, and despite Texas’ status of being the red state, the margins are a lot closer than they’d like. This is why we see the very overt gerrymandering efforts this year (redrawing voter districts to give advantage to one party) so that Republicans do not lose any congressional seats in 2026, reducing immigration as much as possible (immigrants tend to vote blue more than red), and the mandates to cover only conservative ideology in Texas schools to keep future generations leaning Republican (see the Texas A&M professors who were fired/demoted last week for talking about gender).
Happy to provide some context:
It’s a mix. The northeast and west coast are the main stronghold of blue states, but there are a number of red states on the map that indicate states which have received requests.
If you’re curious on the political divide of the US, folks generally sort by red states (Republican) and blue states (Democrat). “Purple” states are those which are less consistently one or the other.
However, just because a state is considered red or blue does not necessarily mean that there isn’t still a good mix of political leanings, which can be reflected when breaking it down to the county level. Blue states in general just have higher urban populations, while red states have higher rural populations.
Trends also shift over time. Florida used to be a major swing state (purple state) due to its large number of electoral votes and political ambiguity, and was the center of the political upset in 2000 where George W. Bush essentially stole the election from Al Gore (W’s brother Jeb was also the governor of Florida at the time). But because Florida is a popular choice for retirees from all over the US who primarily lean conservative, the huge population boom of geriatrics all over the state tipped the scales away from the blue city voters and turned it into a reliably red state.
The inverse also happens, with New Hampshire being another prominent swing state in years past, but now votes reliably blue like the rest of New England in the Northeast. Arizona is also currently a swing state that used to be a Republican stronghold. But both of those states are not nearly as populous as Florida, and so they do not count for as many votes.
But Republicans are also deathly afraid of the same thing happening to Texas, which has a number of massive cities that are more blue than red, and despite Texas’ status of being the red state, the margins are a lot closer than they’d like. This is why we see the very overt gerrymandering efforts this year (redrawing voter districts to give advantage to one party) so that Republicans do not lose any congressional seats in 2026, reducing immigration as much as possible (immigrants tend to vote blue more than red), and the mandates to cover only conservative ideology in Texas schools to keep future generations leaning Republican (see the Texas A&M professors who were fired/demoted last week for talking about gender).
Thank you for your detailed response. Very informative.