Editing Pemiscot County, Missouri (section)

====Political culture====

At the presidential level, Pemiscot County, lying in the [[Missouri Bootheel]] (one of the regions in Missouri most associated with the [[Southern United States|American South]]), was powerfully Democratic from shortly after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] through 2000. From 1868 through 2000, it voted Republican only in Harding's, Hoover's, Nixon's, and Reagan's national landslides in 1920, 1928, 1972, and 1984, respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|title=County winners, 1836-2016|url=https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZmDRzvm83BYurKX7LsrET-C7tcIsE5Em42Wt-gTydXk/edit?usp=embed_facebook|access-date=January 16, 2021|website=Google Docs|language=en-US}}</ref> In 1968, it was the only county in Missouri to vote for George Wallace.

In 2004, George W. Bush flipped the county from blue to red, albeit narrowly, and since then, the county has solidified its standing as a Republican bastion. As of 2020, the county has voted Republican five times in a row, with the Republican vote share increasing in every election. In 2008, Pemiscot County swung the most Republican of all the counties in the state, as McCain improved on Bush's vote share by fully 6.2%, already besting not only Bush but every Republican to have carried the county in at least the prior hundred years apart from Nixon in 1972. In 2020, Donald Trump posted the best showing for a Republican in the county in at least over a century, with his nearly 72% exceeding Nixon's 70%.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=campaigns|first1=Steven ShepardSenior|last2=A.m|first2=Elections Editor12:52|title=Live election results: 2020 Missouri results|url=https://www.politico.com/2020-election/results/missouri/|access-date=January 16, 2021|website=www.politico.com|language=en}}</ref> Similarly to other highly rural Southern counties in the 21st century, the Democratic raw vote total has decreased in every election since then as well.

As in most rural areas throughout Missouri, voters in Pemiscot County generally adhere to socially and culturally [[Conservatism|conservative]] principles, but are more moderate or [[Populism|populist]] on economic issues, typical of the [[Dixiecrat]] philosophy. In 2004, Missourians voted on [[Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2004)|a constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union between a man and a woman]]—it passed Pemiscot County with 84.73 percent of the vote. The initiative passed the state with 71 percent of support from voters, as Missouri became the first state to ban [[same-sex marriage]]. In 2006, Missourians voted on [[Missouri Constitutional Amendment 2 (2006)|a constitutional amendment to fund and legalize embryonic stem cell research in the state]]—it failed in Pemiscot County, with 52.41 percent voting against the measure. The initiative narrowly passed the state with 51 percent of support from voters, as Missouri became one of the first states in the nation to approve [[Embryonic stem cell|embryonic stem cell research]]. Despite Pemiscot County's longstanding tradition of supporting socially conservative platforms, voters in the county have a penchant for advancing [[Populism|populist]] causes, such as increasing the [[minimum wage]]. In 2006, Missourians voted on a proposition (Proposition B) to increase the minimum wage in the state to $6.50 an hour—it passed Pemiscot County with 78.01 percent of the vote. The proposition strongly passed every single county in Missouri with 78.99 percent voting in favor as the minimum wage was increased to $6.50 an hour in the state. During the same election, voters in five other states strongly approved increases in the minimum wage.