10 Most Conservative Major Cities in the United States
In this article, we presented the 10 most conservative major cities in the United States. You can skip our detailed discussion on America's conservative places and read the 5 Most Conservative Major Cities in the United States.
What is Conservatism? Conservatism is generally described as the social and political philosophy that mainly promotes the traditional social institutions. In Western cultures, conservatives seek to preserve a different range of institutions like organized religion, parliamentary government, and the property rights.
Conservatism in the United States of America similarly is the political and social philosophy that characteristically illustrates respect for the American traditions, limited government and republicanism. It mainly supports the Judeo-Christian values, American exceptionalism, moral universalism, and individualism. In US there is definitely a clear distinction between conservative and liberal cities that becomes highly relevant during elections where majority of the conservatives support the republican party and majority of the liberals support the democratic party in US.
The political leaders in US are mainly supported by rich lobbyists and special interest people that provide financial support for the political leaders of both Democratic party and Republican party candidates and sometimes show their support publicly. For example, giant brands like The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO), Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT), oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), and many U.S.-based airlines, American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ: AAL), United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: UAL) and Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) have traditionally been longtime GOP stalwarts. The biggest reason behind the support of big businesses towards GOP is the perception that Republicans and conservatives adopt policies that are more favorable to big businesses. On the contrary the contemporary American brands like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Ben & Jerry’s have openly embraced the policies of the Democrats.
Socially the conservatives in the United States are mainly concerned with social issues like opposition to abortion, lobbying against gambling, advocacy against drug usage, opposition to pornography, opposition to same-sex marriage, support for school prayer and support for school vouchers.
Copyright: dolgachov / 123RF Stock Photo
Let’s start our list of the 10 most conservative major cities in the United States.
10. Bristol, Tennessee
The city of Bristol Tennessee is part of the Sullivan County. The town of Bristol is known for its motor speedway, a 160,000-seat short track that hosts NASCAR races. It’s also a town that is true to its East Tennessee roots, as it is historically more conservative than mid-state and larger metropolitan areas on the western end of the state. The Republican presidential candidate carried Bristol in the last four presidential elections. In 2012, more than 70 percent of Sullivan County voters gave the nod to Mitt Romney. Not only this city is home to one of the most popular NASCAR tracks in US but it is also home to one of the biggest pharmaceutical facilities in the country. The UPM Pharmaceuticals' manufacturing facility is situated at nearly seven acres of land in this historic Bristol, Tennessee city. UPM Pharmaceuticals manufacturing facility is 475,000-square-foot large facility popular for its commercial manufacturing of pharmaceutical products. The capacity of this facility is to produce millions of units of drug product annually and also provides great job opportunities for the locals.
9. Burleson, Texas
One of the most popular cities among Republicans and the conservative population of America is Burleson, Texas. Conservatives are attracted towards Burleson due to its high quality of life, good schools, low crime rates, low taxes, provides a family-friendly environment and high paying jobs. Despite the fact that the city’s mayor came out in favor of marriage equality, Burleson and Johnson County remain very conservative. Burleson has voted Republican for president since 1980. In the 2016 presidential primary, 48 percent of Republicans voted for Ted Cruz, a sign of the town’s dedication to traditional conservative values. One of the most interesting places to visit in Burleson, Texas, is AMC Burleson 14, one of the highest reviewed and popular movie theaters in Texas.
8. Asheboro, North Carolina
The city of Asheboro in North Carolina is located in the Piedmont plateau region of North Carolina. The city of Asheboro is a hub for manufacturing and distribution. A good number of residents are employed in traditionally blue-collar jobs; major employers in the city are Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE: TFX), Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and Everyday Battery Company. In 2012, Mitt Romney took 74 percent of the vote in conservative Asheboro, and Republican David Smith has been the city’s mayor since 2009. Fun fact: the Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) branch in Asheboro North Carolina is regarded as the worst-rated branch of the bank in US.
7. Alabaster, Alabama
The city of Alabaster in Alabama has a relatively small suburb of Birmingham that is big on wealth as the median income for a family is $78,940. Fun fact: this makes the state of Alabama home to the second wealthiest town in the South of US. Only 4.3 percent of families in this city fall below the poverty line. Conservative Christians comprise a majority in this city. Compared to the 48 percent nationwide average, 84 percent of residents are affiliated with a religion in the city of Alabaster. In the past three presidential elections, votes for the Republican candidates outnumbered Democratic party candidate votes two to one in Alabaster. In fact, the city has voted Republican in every presidential contest since 1980, and a striking 75 percent of Alabaster’s registered voters identify themselves as Republicans. The wealth of the people of this region can be considered by the fact that Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) sells its electric cars at the Alabaster Motor Inn dealership making it one of the few Southern counties where Tesla sells its electric cars.
6. Enid, Oklahoma
It is true that in the past several years, the town of Enid in Oklahoma has grown more diverse. The major reason behind the increase in diversity is the influx of the Latino population between 2000 and 2010 as the Latino population in the city doubled, from nearly 5 percent of the total population to more than 10 percent in that period. With more than 60 percent of the voters in the city registered as Republicans, Enid still is considered as the conservative stronghold in the state of Oklahoma. Considering the historical data of US elections, the voters in this city have been casting more ballots for the Republican candidates for president since 1968 than ever before. American fast food giant Burger King, owned by Restaurant Brands International Inc. (NYSE: QSR) was one of the first fast food brands that opened its franchise in the city of Enid, Oklahoma.
Click to continue reading and see the 5 Most Conservative Major Cities in the United States.
Suggested articles:
Disclosure: None. 10 Most Conservative Major Cities in the United States is originally published on Insider Monkey.
