# Do food stamp (EBT) recipients now vote largely for the GOP? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 1, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563 "2014-03-01T00:33:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Linden\_Arden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Linden\_Arden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linden_Arden)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/1 "2014-03-01T00:33:06Z")
I base this question after reading a Bloomberg article which states: > [@](#): > > The Bloomberg review of 2,049 counties where the data was available included the 250 with the highest concentration of food stamp recipients. Among that group, 227 are wholly within one congressional district, with 160 represented by Republicans and 67 by Democrats. Also: > [@](#): > > Among the 254 counties where food stamp recipients doubled between 2007 and 2011, Republican Mitt Romney won 213 of them in last year’s presidential election, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data compiled by Bloomberg. Kentucky’s Owsley County, which backed Romney with 81 percent of its vote, has the largest proportion of food stamp recipients among those that he carried. > **[Food Stamp Cut Backed by Republicans With Voters on Rolls](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-08-14/food-stamp-cut-backed-by-republicans-with-voters-on-rolls)** > > As the U.S. economy recovers from the worst recession since the Great Depression, the explosive growth of food stamps remains a lingering legacy. And now the program comes with an irony, as the Republicans seeking to cut it also represent vast... The 2008 Financial Crisis changed a lot in this country. Did it change the demographics of federal EBT recipients too? Is it just a coincidence that the districts that contain the most EBT recipients voted for a GOP Representative? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/2 "2014-03-01T00:36:55Z")
A county could have a large number of EBT recipients that still only constitutes a small percentage of the vote. Also suspect, but do not know, that EBT recipients may be less likely to vote than other groups. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/3 "2014-03-01T00:44:11Z")
From the example county cited it looks like a lot of these countries could be rural Southern counties. The South is strongly Republican now–because of issues such as guns, abortion, gay rights. ---
**Author:** ![Linden\_Arden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Linden\_Arden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linden_Arden)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/4 "2014-03-01T00:45:59Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > A county could have a large number of EBT recipients that still only constitutes a small percentage of the vote. I thought of that. But the national average is about 16% on EBT so the high concentration counties must be all about 25-30% - which is statistically substantial. And the Great Recession has impacted rural areas the most. ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/5 "2014-03-01T00:49:10Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > From the example county cited it looks like a lot of these countries could be rural Southern counties. The South is strongly Republican now–because of issues such as guns, abortion, gay rights. Notably, non-economic issues, which gets at the point: why are these people voting against their economic interests in favor of tired cultural mores? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/6 "2014-03-01T00:55:32Z")
Data point: I am on EBT myself. No. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/7 "2014-03-01T01:08:50Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > From the example county cited it looks like a lot of these countries could be rural Southern counties. The South is strongly Republican now–because of issues such as guns, abortion, gay rights. Funny. I’d like a cite for this. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/8 "2014-03-01T01:11:21Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Funny. I’d like a cite for this. I noticed you didn’t challenge the premise of the OP, however. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/9 "2014-03-01T01:29:36Z")
Here’s a 2009 list, broken down by county that shows the percentage of the population in the county below 125% of the poverty line, percentage of the population enrolled in SNAP, and the ratio of people below 125% of the poverty line to SNAP recipients. You can probably figure out county by county political orientation that way. It’s also interesting to see how underutilized SNAP is…how there are a lot of places where a large percentage of people eligible for SNAP aren’t on SNAP. [http://frac.org/pdf/ny\_times\_snap\_poverty\_formatted.pdf](http://frac.org/pdf/ny_times_snap_poverty_formatted.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThisUsernameIsForbidden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisUsernameIsForbidden)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/10 "2014-03-01T02:55:04Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Here’s a 2009 list, broken down by county that shows the percentage of the population in the county below 125% of the poverty line, percentage of the population enrolled in SNAP, and the ratio of people below 125% of the poverty line to SNAP recipients. You can probably figure out county by county political orientation that way. > > It’s also interesting to see how underutilized SNAP is…how there are a lot of places where a large percentage of people eligible for SNAP aren’t on SNAP. > > [http://frac.org/pdf/ny\_times\_snap\_poverty\_formatted.pdf](http://frac.org/pdf/ny_times_snap_poverty_formatted.pdf) There’s gotta be a map for this somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/11 "2014-03-01T03:17:18Z")
Since poor people overwhelmingly vote democratic I’m a bit surprised by the thread. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/12 "2014-03-01T03:26:32Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Since \*\*poor people \*\*overwhelmingly vote democratic I’m a bit surprised by the thread. Urban poor, rural poor tend Republican. Article in [The Atlantic](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/red-state-blue-city-how-the-urban-rural-divide-is-splitting-america/265686/) > [@](#): > > The gap is so stark that some of America’s bluest cities are located in its reddest states. Every one of Texas’ major cities – Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio – voted Democratic in 2012, the second consecutive presidential election in which they’ve done so. Other red-state cities that tipped blue include Atlanta, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Birmingham, Tucson, Little Rock, and Charleston, S.C. – ironically, the site of the first battle of the Civil War. In states like Nevada, the only blue districts are often also the only cities, like Reno and Las Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![LarkingPot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bcef8e/32.png) [@LarkingPot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LarkingPot)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/13 "2014-03-01T04:57:13Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Urban poor, rural poor tend Republican. > Article in [The Atlantic](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/red-state-blue-city-how-the-urban-rural-divide-is-splitting-america/265686/) Urban poor tend to be black and black people tend to vote Democratic. Rural poor tend to be white and might vote Republican. As someone who has been on SNAP for going on 4 years, you couldn’t pay me enough money to vote Republican. No, more money than that. No, more than that. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/14 "2014-03-01T06:20:36Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Urban poor, rural poor tend Republican. > Article in [The Atlantic](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/11/red-state-blue-city-how-the-urban-rural-divide-is-splitting-america/265686/) Since the word “poor” doesn’t appear in the article you linked to you have yet to provide any evidence for your assertion. Did you link to the wrong article or are you under the assumption that if most rural people vote Republican that means most rural poor people must as well? If so that’s a really stupid assumption. There are plenty of non-poor who live in rural areas. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/15 "2014-03-01T06:22:40Z")
> [@LarkingPot](#): > > Urban poor tend to be black and black people tend to vote Democratic. Rural poor tend to be white and might vote Republican. > > As someone who has been on SNAP for going on 4 years, you couldn’t pay me enough money to vote Republican. No, more money than that. No, more than that. Once again, there’s nothing in the article to support his assertion that rural poor vote Republican. In fact, the word “poor” doesn’t even appear in the article. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/16 "2014-03-01T12:28:08Z")
True. A great many millionaires claim food stamps. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/17 "2014-03-01T12:53:48Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Since poor people overwhelmingly vote democratic I’m a bit surprised by the thread. I’m not poor. I am retired and disabled. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/18 "2014-03-01T16:50:06Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Data point: > > I am on EBT myself. > > No. Data Point My mother and brother are on EBT. They voted Republican. Their EBT benefits were gutted. They still haven’t made the connection. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/19 "2014-03-01T16:52:36Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Here’s a 2009 list, broken down by county that shows the percentage of the population in the county below 125% of the poverty line, percentage of the population enrolled in SNAP, and the ratio of people below 125% of the poverty line to SNAP recipients. You can probably figure out county by county political orientation that way. > > It’s also interesting to see how underutilized SNAP is…how there are a lot of places where a large percentage of people eligible for SNAP aren’t on SNAP. > > [http://frac.org/pdf/ny\_times\_snap\_poverty\_formatted.pdf](http://frac.org/pdf/ny_times_snap_poverty_formatted.pdf) Some people in my extended family are fairly poor and are like that. I’ve never wanted to stick my nose in their business but I have mentioned to them that we pay taxes precisely for these types of things and I don’t think it’s either dishonorable to accept those benefits or even particularly a good thing to decline them when they’re available. Not doing so is like having an emergency fund you refuse to tap in an emergency as far as I see it. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563/20 "2014-03-01T17:07:48Z")
The phrase “vote against their own interest” is used quite a bit on these boards. And it almost always means that people (e.g., poor Republicans) vote against the party who wants to give them less stuff. Do you people who use this phrase think the only wise or honorable thing to do is to vote for people who will give you a larger hand out? Right in this thread LarkingPot says that you couldn’t pay him enough to vote Republican. So, even if someone—or the Republicans— were to pay him more than he currently gets with SNAP, would that make him an idiot? I don’t think so. I think that people vote for more than what they might directly receive. LarkingPot believes that the Dems will craft a country more to his ideological liking, would he be a fool for voting for them even if there was no SNAP? Similarly, if a person believes that lower taxes and a more conservative social policy genuinely is the best thing for the country as a whole, why is he so often cast in a bad light on these boards as one of the idiots who vote against their own self interests? Not that anyone need answer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-food-stamp-ebt-recipients-now-vote-largely-for-the-gop/682563.md?page=2)