Could New England vote Republican?

We wanted to take time out from the Impeachment debate and look back at political history in New England. Today, all the New England states are considered “Blue States” with the possible exception of New Hampshire which could potentially be considered a “Purple State.” It was not always so. Let’s start with Maine which has not voted Republican in a Presidential election since 1992, but between 1972 and 1988 Maine voted Republican for 5 consecutive Presidential elections. The picture is even more remarkable in Vermont which like Maine has not voted for a Republican since 1988, but Vermont only voted for a Democrat (Lyndon Johnson) once between 1900 and 1984 … 22 out of 23 straight elections voting for Republican Presidential candidates. New Hampshire was the most recent state to vote Republican, having supported George W. Bush over Al Gore in 2000 and swinging the outcome of that election, but has gone Democratic in recent elections despite being a hotly contested state. Massachusetts has only gone Republican twice since 1960, backing Ronald Reagan twice in 1980 and 1984. Rhode Island also has only voted Republican twice since 1960, backing Richard Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984. Finally, Connecticut used to be a Red State from 1972 through 1984 backing Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Bush, before turning Blue ever since. The bottom line: much of New England used to be a Republican bastion back in the 70s and 80s. While today we take for granted that New England is Democratic, over time it could easily change. Particularly when states experience hard economic times, states often turn to another political party. Take Connecticut, for example, where the economy has lagged the rest of the nation now for a decade. It would not be out of the realm of possibility if we see Connecticut voters rebel against the status quo and chart a new course. It’s probably a bit of a long short for 2020, but we believe that Connecticut as well as other states such as Maine and Vermont are not as Blue as many assume and could migrate back to being Purple states over the next decade just as the Midwest (Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) did in 2016.