Editing Jackson Parish, Louisiana (section)

==Politics==
Jackson Parish was historically part of the [[Solid South]], as Louisiana had [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised most blacks]] in the state at the turn of the century, as had other southern states. This made the Republican Party non-competitive in the state and region, and excluded blacks from politics into the 1960s. The conservative whites consistently voted for Democratic candidates in the one-party region. [[governor of New York|Governor]] [[Al Smith]] of New York received 100 percent of the vote in 1928 (from white voters) in his losing race against [[Herbert C. Hoover]].<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/stats.php?year=1928&f=1&off=0&elect=0 David Leip Election Atlas: 1928 statistics]</ref>

In the 1960s, the majority of conservative white voters began to shift their support to [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] presidential candidates, and then to those at the state level. In 1960, [[Richard M. Nixon]] led parishwide with 43.9 percent against both [[John F. Kennedy]] and a rival slate of unpledged segregationist electors. These included future [[governor of Louisiana|Governor]] [[David C. Treen]] and [[Leander Perez]] of [[Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana|Plaquemines Parish]]. In that election, blacks were still disenfranchised.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Presidential election returns by parish, November 8, 1960</ref>

Jackson Parish has served as a reliable bellwether for the state of Louisiana, having voted for the statewide presidential winner in 15 straight elections since 1964. Since the late 20th century, Democrat [[Bill Clinton]] and Republican [[George W. Bush]] each carried the parish twice. In 1992, Clinton polled 3,370 votes (44.5 percent) to Republican [[George Herbert Walker Bush]]'s 3,072 (40.6 percent). Another 882 ballots (11.7 percent) were held by [[Ross Perot]] of [[Texas]], who ran as an [[Independent (politics)|Independent]] and thereafter founded his [[Reform Party (United States)|Reform Party]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/11031992/11031992_25.html|title=Jackson Parish presidential election returns, November 3, 1992|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|access-date=November 17, 2012}}</ref>

In the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 U.S. presidential election]], Republican [[U.S. Senator]] [[John McCain]] of [[Arizona]] outpolled [[Barack H. Obama]] of [[Illinois]] by 30 percentage points.<ref>[http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/map.html?scp=1&sq=%22election%20map&st=cse ''The New York Times'' electoral map (Zoom in on Louisiana)]</ref> In [[2012 United States presidential election|2012]], Republican [[Mitt Romney]] carried Jackson Parish. with 5,132 votes (68.2 percent) to President Obama's 2,305 ballots (30.6 percent), a margin of nearly 38 percentage points.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/11062012/11062012_25.html|title=Jackson Parish presidential election returns, November 6, 2012|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|access-date=November 17, 2012}}</ref>

{{PresHead|place=Jackson Parish, Louisiana|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=March 7, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|5,291|1,852|83|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|5,394|2,143|95|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|5,169|2,139|156|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|5,132|2,305|92|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|5,190|2,456|90|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|5,038|2,525|84|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|4,347|2,582|177|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|3,030|3,368|669|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|3,072|3,370|1,124|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|4,251|2,842|156|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|5,034|2,568|159|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|3,923|3,609|198|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|3,310|3,605|145|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|4,152|1,477|306|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|1,104|1,525|3,941|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|4,521|1,552|0|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|1,799|1,398|903|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|1,553|916|393|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|1,614|2,817|0|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1948|Dixiecrat|169|713|1,407|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|414|1,840|3|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|280|2,734|0|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|169|1,807|0|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|34|1,748|0|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|0|907|0|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|88|682|0|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|166|1,229|0|Louisiana}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|27|980|2|Louisiana}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|19|561|187|Louisiana}}