By Warren Mass
The demographic phenomenon of large numbers of residents fleeing from “blue” states is not new. But the exodus is continuing, and growing.
We noted in a December 31 article that — based on a news release posted by the U.S. Census Bureau the previous day — the two largest Democrat-dominated states (California and New York) have both suffered population losses that will likely reduce their congressional representation and, consequently, their electoral vote count following the next census. Meanwhile, the second-largest state, Texas, which is thriving under Republican leadership, is expected to gain as many as three House seats, the most of any state.
While New York and Illinois, two large-population states controlled by “progressive” Democrats, have been bleeding people for years, the trend in California was stemmed for a long time by other factors. Large numbers of immigrants (many of them here illegally) continued to swell the population and the state’s natural beauty and good weather partially offset the negative burdens, such as high taxes and worsening crime in California’s cities.
But, finally, as more and more Californians decided that beautiful beaches and mountains were of little benefit if you couldn’t afford to live there, people began leaving the Golden State.
In a January 10 article in The Hill, contributor Merrill Matthews (a resident scholar with the free-market Institute for Policy Innovation in Dallas, Texas) noted, “many voters were, and are, increasingly fed up with the high taxes, heavy regulations and increasing social wokeness that have come to characterize most blue states — i.e., those dominated by liberal politicians and policies.”
Matthews confirmed what we observed in our December 31 article when we wrote, “The two largest Democrat-dominated states (California and New York) have both suffered population losses that will likely reduce their congressional representation — and consequently their electoral vote count — following the next census.” He wrote:
That’s a big deal for California, which has never lost a congressional seat. It is a tacit repudiation of California’s over-the-top taxes and policies. Some of the other blue states, such as New York and Illinois, have been bleeding people for years.
Several years ago, I interviewed the editor of Chief Executive magazine, which conducts an annual CEO survey of the best and worst states to do business. The editor told me the survey had two constants: Texas always comes in as the best state to do business, and California always comes in dead last. Oh, and Florida, which is projected to gain two seats, usually comes in second place.
Matthews has been researching and writing about this subject for many years. Back in 2011, he wrote an article for Forbes headlined, “The Red State in Your Future.”
He observed in 2011 that some blue states “have seen the light and are turning red.” Among those were Maine, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. This proved to be a harbinger of things to come as Donald Trump carried Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania in 2016.