The Republican Party is set to defeat Democrats in the upcoming state governments in the heart of the South and will completely dominate the election this time. It is expected that the Republicans will win in Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama and will win every state elected office.
If the Republican manages to win these states, they would get the power to redraw the congressional districts after the 2010 census. It will allow the Republicans to raise more funds and launch aggressive campaign for the Republican candidates in the 2012 races.
White conservative voters in the South are set to vote for Republicans in the coming elections as they support the position of the party on fiscal and social issues and the Republicans are set to gain more votes this time largely due to the unhappiness among voters at Democratic-led government. "People are in a red mood right now," said a senior lobbyist in Nashville said to Wall Street Journal. "This is the end of a transformation that has been happening for the last 30 years."
Democratic politicians are holding some key positions including governorships, legislatures, attorney general and agriculture commissioner to name a few. Democrats have long ruled in Tennessee and around 70% of Tennesseans rate current Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen as excellent or good, according to a poll conducted this summer by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.
Mike McWherter will succeed Bredesen, but McWherter is trailing from Republican candidate Bill Haslam, a 52-year-old businessman and mayor of Knoxville, by 59% to 31% in the latest Rasmussen poll. McWherter, 54, is the son of former Democratic Gov. Ned McWherter.
