As the 2016 presidential election ramps up, candidates are paying extra attention to the all-important swing states.
These states, like Ohio, Florida and Colorado, tend to be the most narrowly divided and can tip the scale of an election. Unsurprisingly, these swing states receive a disproportionate amount of political spending during campaign season.
With that in mind, InsideGov looked back at the states that have historically changed political parties the most. Using presidential election data from 1932 (FDR’s first election) to 2012, InsideGov tracked each state’s voting behavior.
The visualization below shows how each state has voted over time (press play to begin):
Louisiana takes the top spot as the state with the most political flip-flops, having changed parties 11 times since the 1932 election. The next state should come as no surprise: Ohio. Currently one of the most important swing states, Ohio has switched parties 10 times. In the 2012 election, Ohio received the third highest amount of political ad spending in the country.
On the other end of spectrum is Alaska, which has been the most politically consistent state, changing parties only two times. This is partially due to Alaska’s relatively short period as a state.
Behind Alaska are 10 other states that have only switched political parties three times since 1932: Ariz., Idaho, Kan., Maine, Neb., N.D., Okla., S.D., Utah and Vt. Interestingly, most of these states, with the exception of Vermont and Maine, have been consistently Republican over the last three to four decades.
#50. Alaska
Number of Party Switches: 2
#49. Arizona
Number of Party Switches: 3
#48. Idaho
Number of Party Switches: 3
#47. Kansas
Number of Party Switches: 3
#46. Maine
Number of Party Switches: 3
#45. Nebraska
Number of Party Switches: 3
#44. North Dakota
Number of Party Switches: 3
#43. Oklahoma
Number of Party Switches: 3
#42. South Dakota
Number of Party Switches: 3
#41. Utah
Number of Party Switches: 3
#40. Vermont
Number of Party Switches: 3
#39. California
Number of Party Switches: 4
#38. Hawaii
Number of Party Switches: 4
#37. Illinois
Number of Party Switches: 4
#36. Massachusetts
Number of Party Switches: 4
#35. Minnesota
Number of Party Switches: 4
#34. New Jersey
Number of Party Switches: 4
#33. Oregon
Number of Party Switches: 4
#32. Virginia
Number of Party Switches: 4
#31. Washington
Number of Party Switches: 4
#30. Connecticut
Number of Party Switches: 5
#29. Indiana
Number of Party Switches: 5
#28. Maryland
Number of Party Switches: 5
#27. Montana
Number of Party Switches: 5
#26. North Carolina
Number of Party Switches: 5
#25. South Carolina
Number of Party Switches: 5
#24. Texas
Number of Party Switches: 5
#23. Wyoming
Number of Party Switches: 5
#22. Arkansas
Number of Party Switches: 6
#21. Michigan
Number of Party Switches: 6
#20. Nevada
Number of Party Switches: 6
#19. New Mexico
Number of Party Switches: 6
#18. New York
Number of Party Switches: 6
#17. Rhode Island
Number of Party Switches: 6
#16. Delaware
Number of Party Switches: 7
#15. Georgia
Number of Party Switches: 7
#14. Kentucky
Number of Party Switches: 7
#13. Missouri
Number of Party Switches: 7
#12. New Hampshire
Number of Party Switches: 7
#11. Pennsylvania
Number of Party Switches: 7
#10. Tennessee
Number of Party Switches: 7
#9. West Virginia
Number of Party Switches: 7
#8. Alabama
Number of Party Switches: 8
#7. Colorado
Number of Party Switches: 8
#6. Florida
Number of Party Switches: 8
#5. Iowa
Number of Party Switches: 8
#4. Mississippi
Number of Party Switches: 8
#3. Wisconsin
Number of Party Switches: 8
#2. Ohio
Number of Party Switches: 10
#1. Louisiana
Number of Party Switches: 11
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: The States That Have Changed Political Parties The Most
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