There is an undeniable reality in American politics that the best-run states, the ones people want to move to, are run by Republicans, and the states that people are fleeing are run by Democrats.
Recently released estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau show that the top five fastest-growing states are (in order) South Carolina, Idaho, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Four of those states are Republican strongholds. The fifth is North Carolina, which has a Democratic governor and a state legislature where both chambers are controlled by Republicans. Texas saw the largest total increase, adding nearly 400,000 people.
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Only five states saw negative growth rates. The fastest declining state is Vermont, and the second is Hawaii. GOP stronghold West Virginia came in third, but the top five were rounded out by two more bastions of Democratic governance: New Mexico and California.
The reality is inescapable. For example, among the “Four Corners” states, New Mexico has declined, and equally blue Colorado has been stagnant. Arizona, a purple state that has been reliably Republican until recently, has seen gains on par with Florida and Georgia. Utah is the most reliably Republican of the four, and ranks in the top five in population growth.
Or take the largest states, the ones that carry the banner for Democrats and Republicans nationwide. California saw its population decline, driven by its well-documented affordability crisis. New York barely avoided the same fate, with a net gain of just 1,008 people for 0.01% growth. Texas ranked in the top five, and Florida gained nearly 200,000 more people as well.
There are exceptions, such as West Virginia’s population decline or Delaware’s growth, but the trend is undeniable. Prominent Democratic states, including California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Colorado, are declining or stagnant. People are leaving those states and are declining to move to them because they are increasingly becoming unaffordable, thanks to the high taxes and excessive regulations imposed by Democrats in those states.
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On the flip side, the most prominent GOP states are at the top of the growth lists. Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee are among the best, and lower-profile states, such as South Carolina and Idaho, are in the top five. People are voting with their feet, and their votes are for GOP governance over the Democratic alternative in almost every instance.
There are exceptions, as there always are, but the trend makes it clear: Republicans are better at governing than Democrats. The people willing to uproot their lives to move from California to Idaho or from New York to Florida are proof of that. It is the undeniable reality at the core of our politics, and it shows that affordability should be the No. 1 selling point for Republicans at every opportunity.