Josh Kraushaar writes in The Nation under the headline, "Rural voters playing outsized role in battleground House races." An excerpt follows, suggesting that rural voters matter more than usual in the mid-terms:
In this year’s House races, a disproportionate number of battleground races are taking place in either rural districts or districts with a significant rural segment. Of the 20 races that are ranked as toss-ups by The Cook Political Report, over half have a sizable rural constituency. It’s a reminder that Democrats can’t take rural America for granted, at least if they hope to hold a House majority for the long term.
Several of the rural House battlegrounds are newly drawn districts, like North Carolina’s 13th, which combines the burgeoning, Democratic-trending Research Triangle exurbs with the deep-red rural outposts of Harnett and Johnston counties. One is a brand new seat, Colorado’s 8th District, which includes parts of Weld County where “cattle sun themselves on grazing land and feedlots,” as The Denver Post put it. Others have always been competitive, like Maine’s expansive 2nd District, home to one of the most independent-minded Democrats in the House.
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As national Democrats cater to urban, progressive interests, they’ve all but abandoned the rural constituencies that once made up a major part of their coalition.
On the ways in which rural voters have become the margin of difference in recent elections, don't miss this piece on the Virginia gubernatorial race of 2021. This coverage of Missouri's 2020 vote to expand Medicaid also discusses the role of the rural vote, which generally opposed the expansion but wasn't strong enough to undermine the urban vote in favor of expansion.
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