How many black conservatives are there

The current point GOP edge in leaned partisan affiliation is as wide an advantage for the Republican Party among white voters as Pew Research Center has measured over the past 24 years. Trends in party affiliation among black voters have been largely stable over recent years. As with black voters, trends in party affiliation among Hispanic voters have changed little in recent years.

The data for party identification among Asians are based on interviews conducted in English. When it comes to gender and partisan preferences, the Republican Party has a significant advantage in leaned party identification among men, an edge that has widened in recent years, while the Democratic Party holds a large advantage among women.

The current point edge held by the Republican Party also is significantly higher than the four-point edge the GOP held in Democrats have held a consistent advantage among women in leaned party identification in Pew Research Center surveys dating to The current point edge is as large as it has been over the past several years, but somewhat smaller than the point advantage the Democratic Party held among women in Trends in partisan identification among those with different levels of education have undergone major changes over the last two decades.

Less-educated voters — once a strong Democratic bloc — have moved toward the Republican Party, while college graduates have moved toward the Democratic Party. This Democratic advantage persisted through the s and early s but has evaporated over the course of the last eight years. Patterns in party affiliation are the reverse among college graduates.

The Republican Party began to lose ground among college graduates in the second half of George W. The Democratic advantage narrowed by the midterm election year of , but has reemerged over the last six years.

The partisan preferences of voters with some college experience, but no degree, are divided. That edge was not long-lasting and disappeared by The balance of leaned party affiliation among white college graduates is about the same as it was in and , but is less Republican than in Throughout the s and early s, white college graduates were significantly more likely to lean toward the Republican than Democratic Party.

The Republican Party has held an edge in leaned party affiliation among white voters with some college experience over each of the last 24 years. The current GOP advantage among whites with some college experience is comparable to the point edge the party held in and larger than the five-point edge it held in The current gap between the two groups in Republican affiliation is as wide as it has been in the past quarter-century.

The gap in Republican affiliation among college educated white men and white women, by contrast, is about the same today as it has been over the course of the last 24 years. The current point gap in Republican affiliation between the two groups is the same as it was in The overall Democratic advantage among voters who have graduated from college is driven in large part by the strong Democratic tilt of those with postgraduate experience.

But by the late s, as black politicians began to assemble their own power bases, carving out a measure of independence, they often challenged the machine when party interests conflicted with issues important to the black community.

Unlike earlier black Members who relied on the established political machines to launch their careers, these Members, most of whom had grown up in the cities they represented, managed to forge political bases separate from the dominant party structure. By linking familial and community connections with widespread civic engagement, they routinely clashed with the entrenched political powers. Nationally, the staggering financial collapse hit black Americans harder than most other groups.

Thousands had already lost agricultural jobs in the mids due to the declining cotton market. By the early s, 38 percent of African Americans were unemployed compared to 17 percent of whites. Some African-American politicians in the early s switched parties to advance their own careers while simultaneously helping their black communities.

Two years later, he successfully unseated De Priest, even though the incumbent retained the majority of the black vote. Mitchell became the first African American elected to Congress as a Democrat—running largely on a platform that tapped into urban black support for the economic relief provided by New Deal programs.

Dawson then lost his seat on the city council when De Priest allies blocked his re-nomination. But Dawson soon seized an opportunity extended by his one-time opponents. Working with Democratic mayoral incumbent Ed Kelly, Dawson changed parties and became Democratic committeeman in the Second Ward, clearing a path to succeed Mitchell upon his retirement from the House in Additionally, black voters nationwide began leaving the Republican Party because of the growing perception that local Democratic organizations better represented their interests.

Local patronage positions and nationally administered emergency relief programs in Depression-era Chicago and other cities, for instance, proved crucial in attracting African-American support. For those who had been marginalized or ignored for so long, even the largely symbolic efforts of the Roosevelt administration inspired hope and renewed interest in the political process.

As the older generation of black voters disappeared, the Democratic machines that dominated northern city wards courted the next generation of black voters. By only 28 percent of African Americans nationally voted for Republican nominee Alf Landon—less than half the number who had voted for Hoover just four years before.

Including Oscar De Priest, just nine black Republicans were elected to Congress between and —about 7 percent of the African Americans to serve in that time span. Despite the growing support from black voters, President Franklin D. Roosevelt remained aloof and ambivalent about black civil rights.

A significant minority of African-Americans resisted the appeal of the New Deal, and many of those who embraced Franklin Roosevelt continued to vote Republican in down-ballot races. National politics provide Farrington with a sturdy frame, but what makes his book special is his painstaking re-creation of scores of little-known state and local activists and a lost world of two-party competition. This story of seemingly paradoxical black Republicans is much needed in this political moment.

Farrington has given scholars, pundits, and the general public the timeliest book yet about how the GOP purged itself of racial minorities and cast its lot with America's declining white majority.

A book that is at once complex and clear, Black Republicans and the Transformation of the GOP is a must read for any student of politics or history interested in how the GOP's failed answers to the race question have pushed a once-great national party to the brink of political self-destruction. Lee declared, "Somebody had to stay in the Republican Party and fight.