# Which are Red States? Which are Blue States? Which are Battleground States? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2004, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-are-red-states-which-are-blue-states-which-are-battleground-states/270192 "2004-10-20T08:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-are-red-states-which-are-blue-states-which-are-battleground-states/270192/1 "2004-10-20T08:01:17Z")
I realize we can’t answer these questions with 100% accuracy, there’s always room for surprise. But without getting into Great Debates territory, with the best data available: Which are the States that could go either Kerry or Bush? Which are the States that Kerry can count on? Which are the States that Bush can count on? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-are-red-states-which-are-blue-states-which-are-battleground-states/270192/2 "2004-10-20T08:03:31Z")
[http://www.electoral-vote.com/](http://www.electoral-vote.com/) ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-are-red-states-which-are-blue-states-which-are-battleground-states/270192/3 "2004-10-20T08:43:57Z")
_Exactly_ what I’d been trying to find, **Airman**! Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-are-red-states-which-are-blue-states-which-are-battleground-states/270192/4 "2004-10-20T08:52:16Z")
I was interested to find the most pro-Rep state and the most pro-Dem state. The cowboys (and -girls) in Wyoming lead the way for Bush with 65%, while the sophisticates of New York go 58% for Kerry. DC goes 78% for Kerry, having voted over 80% for Gore in 2000. I think I can guess why. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-are-red-states-which-are-blue-states-which-are-battleground-states/270192/5 "2004-10-20T11:19:47Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > The cowboys (and -girls) in Wyoming lead the way for Bush with 65%, while the sophisticates of New York go 58% for Kerry. > > DC goes 78% for Kerry, having voted over 80% for Gore in 2000. I think I can guess why. Because it’s exclusively urban? My hometown of Detroit went for Gore [by over 90%](http://www.freep.com/news/politics/primer5_20040205.htm) in 2000. Detroit’s not a state, of course, but it does have over twice the population of Wyoming, so it’s not exactly a small samaple size. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-are-red-states-which-are-blue-states-which-are-battleground-states/270192/6 "2004-10-20T12:00:43Z")
[This was the most informative map I could find](http://www.theonion.com/election2004/images/national_outlook_map6.gif) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-are-red-states-which-are-blue-states-which-are-battleground-states/270192/7 "2004-10-20T12:27:30Z")
Question: I thought that traditionally the “blue” party was the incumbent party, and the “red” party were the challengers. Am I wrong? If not, then when did “red” become “permanently” Republican and “blue” become “permanently” Democrat? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-are-red-states-which-are-blue-states-which-are-battleground-states/270192/8 "2004-10-20T12:47:18Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Question: I thought that traditionally the “blue” party was the incumbent party, and the “red” party were the challengers. Am I wrong? If not, then when did “red” become “permanently” Republican and “blue” become “permanently” Democrat? According to wikipedia, the media used to switch off the colors between the parties every election. But there’s been so much discussion about the 2000 election and what it meant in American culture that the colors seem to have permanently attached themselves to those parties as a conversational shortcut. Let me find a link… [Red State](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_state) [Blue State](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_state) ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-are-red-states-which-are-blue-states-which-are-battleground-states/270192/9 "2004-10-20T16:17:11Z")
I think the most Republican of all states is probably Utah. [www.electoralvote.com](http://www.electoralvote.com) has it at 64% / 27%. DC would be the bluest of the blue (78% / 11%). Among actual states, looks like my current home ground gets the nod: New York stands at 58% / 35%.