As documented in my analysis piece on how the Democrats lost the Solid South, the last century has slowly seen deep southern states convert from a reliable Democratic bloc to Republican strongholds. “We have lost the south for a generation”, President Johnson remarked when he signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, a landmark moment in the realignment of American politics. By the 21st century, both in presidential elections and at the senatorial level, the concept of an elected Democrat in the South was a seemingly moribund concept.
Despite this however, the following figures are noted southern Democratic figures in modern American politics – ones that have had a significant impact in the 2020s.
Andy Beshear
- STATE: Kentucky
- OFFICE: Governor
In a deep red state like Kentucky, the popularity of its Democratic Governor Andy Beshear is something of a miracle. Governor Beshear, alongside Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman, is the only elected statewide official in the state but has immense support as the most popular Democratic Governor in the country.
While Trump won Kentucky by over 30 points in 2024, polls in a similar timeframe found that Beshear had a 68% approval rate in the state.
Beshear, son of former Governor Andy, first made his name as the state’s attorney general, challenging Governor Matt Bevin in court over issues such as controversial teacher pension reforms and university budget cuts.
Despite the support of President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, Beshear prevailed in the 2019 gubernatorial race over incumbent Matt Bevin, prevailing by 5,000 votes out of a pool of 1.44 million voters. In areas containing major cities like Louisville and Lexington by over 65%.
Beshear proved to be popular, perhaps less due to his politics rather than his personality. Beshear has proven himself to be a unifying figure among Democrats, independents, and even Republicans.
Competent, professional, and affable, Beshear cruised to re-election in 2023, undoubtedly buoyed by anger in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Facing a hostile General Assembly where Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers, Beshear has garnered his greatest national attention for vetoes of the legislature’s conservative agenda. For example, he has vetoed anti-trans legislation passed by the Assembly, citing his Christian faith’s teaching that all children are children of God and the bill only risked bullying one of the most vulnerable groups in society.
In 2024, Beshear was a discussed name to become Kamala Harris’s running mate, though was not chosen.
At present, Beshear has become a notable name in the Democratic Party and one frequently cited as a potential presidential candidate for 2028. He has not quashed such rumours, commenting: “I don’t want to leave a broken country to my kids. So, if I’m somebody who can bring this nation together, hopefully find some common ground, it’s something I would consider.”
Roy Cooper
- STATE: North Carolina
- OFFICE: Governor
Roy Cooper’s story is not dissimilar to that of Beshear’s: an ex-Attorney General who narrowly won in a Trump-voting state, increased his majority in their re-election bid, faced a hostile Assembly, has a progressive veto record, and seemingly still has a bright future at the national level.
After over a decade as the state’s AG, Cooper first ran for Governor in 2016, aided by the highly unpopular so-called “Bathroom Bill”. Though many socially conservative would support legislation banning transgender people from using bathrooms not of their assigned birth, its consequences went far beyond identity politics.
In opposition to the law, several major companies boycotted the state. PayPal withdrew plans to expand in the area, 21st Century Fox said it would reconsider future projects, and the decision was made that the NBA All-Star Game would be relocated out of the state in protest. Forbes data revealed it cost the state $630 million and Associated Press reporting put it at costing $3.76 billion over the next dozen years.
By August, just 30% of North Carolinians approved of the legislation, tanking popularity of the incumbent Governor, Pat McCrory.
In the election, Cooper prevailed by just 10,000 votes, making him the first man to ever defeat an incumbent Governor in the state. He won after picking up counties including major cities such as Raleigh and Charlotte.
In 2020, Cooper was re-elected by 4.5 percentage points. He was the only Democrat to win in a state won by Trump in that gubernatorial cycle.
His tenure has been marked by improvements to education (such as raising teachers pay) and healthcare (rolling out Medicaid to over 600,000 North Carolinians).
Facing a Republican General Assembly, Cooper has issued over 100 vetoes during his tenure, many surrounding anti-trans legislation including bans from women’s sports, bans on puberty blockers, and forcing schools to disclose children’s sexuality to parents. His opposition to anti-abortion efforts has helped the state be one of the most accessible in the south.
Perhaps it could be said the popularity of Roy Cooper has turned North Carolina into a state of Democratic Governors. After all, he went from a razor-thin 10,000 vote win in 2016 to an increased 250,000 vote margin in 2020, and – after leaving office due to term limits – to 830,000 in 2024.
The outgoing Governor was rumoured to be a favourite in the choice of Kamala Harris’s running mate, though withdrew before her eventual choice was named. Still, there are rumblings he may run for the open NC Senate seat in the 2026 Midterms – after all, he is a popular face in the region as is yet to lose an election.
Joe Manchin
- STATE: West Virginia
- OFFICE: (Ex-)Senator
Since his entry into the Senate in 2010, moderate conservative Joe Manchin has served as a true independent, a Republican’s Democrat, and a man loathed by the party’s left.
Despite Trump winning West Virginia with 68.5% of the vote in 2016, the former Governor was re-elected in 2018 in his final senatorial campaign. He was aided, undoubtedly by having perhaps the most right-wing voting record for any Democrat in Congress.
In the 117th Congress from 2021-2023, Manchin’s voice held great weight in an evenly split 50-50 Senate. For example, his opposition to the scale of President Biden’s pledged Build Back Better plan helped sink the bill. Though a watered down Inflation Reduction Act did pass, Manchin’s stance meant childcare measures were ditched, climate measures cut, and spending slashed.
During his tenure, he also opposed measures such as raising the minimum wage to $15 and plans for student loan forgiveness.
In 2023, he announced he would not recontest his senate seat, by which point he was one of the least popular senators in the country, with one poll showing just 11% support. The vacation of the seat almost guaranteed it would be won by the Republicans, handing them control of the Senate and meaning the state would have no statewide elected officials for the first time in nearly a century.
He became an independent in 2024, fueling speculation of a third party presidential run, boosted by support from Senator Mitt Romney.
After no seeking re-election, he refused to endorse the 2024 Democratic ticket.
Now aged 77, it seems Manchin’s time in the political spotlight is over as he is much closer to the end of his career than the start.
Jon Ossoff
- STATE: Georgia
- OFFICE: Senator
In 2020, the state of Georgia proved to be an unexpected miracle for the Democratic Party, who broke the Republican-backing state to win it in both the presidential and two senate races.
Of the two elected, Jon Ossoff seems to have more of a future, being the youngest serving senator at just 33. The first senator to be born in the 1980s, he is the youngest elected in the 21st century and the youngest since a young Joe Biden was elected in 1972.
Ossoff faced incumbent senator David Perdue. During the campaign, he raised over $100 million, making his campaign the best funded senate bid of all time. He was also aided by a long list of celebrity endorsements.
In the first round, Ossoff actually lost, obtaining just under 48% to Perdue’s 49.7%, though as both earned less than 50% of the vote, a run-off was initiated.
Prior to the run-off, Ossoff famously held a debate on an empty stage after Perdue refused to participate. Ossoff’s chances were boosted by the Republican Party’s reaction to the 2020 election, claiming it was stolen. Ossoff won by 1.2% in the smallest margin of any senate race that year.
In the Senate, Ossoff has served as what one might call a typical moderate Democrat. While he supports the Paris Climate agreement and pro-healthcare, he is not a supporter of the Green New Deal or Medicare for all.
His 2026 senate re-election bid is sure to be one of 2026’s most watched races. Ossoff seems the favourite, especially after the popular Governor Brian Kemp declined. He will be the only Democrat seeking re-election in a state won by Donald Trump in 2024.
Raphael Warnock
- STATE: Georgia
- OFFICE: Senator
The other Democratic Senator elected that year in Georgia was Raphael Warnock, a prominent reverend.
In the jungle primary, Warnock won the first ballot with 33% of the vote to incumbent Kelly Loeffler’s 26%. In the run-off in January, Warnock squeaked through with 51% of the vote, making him the first black senator to represent the state of Georgia. Warnock was endorsed by a host of celebrities, including Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, John Legend, Spike Lee, and Stevie Wonder.
Like Ossoff and Biden, Warnock’s win has been credited with his popularity in the diverse Atlanta metro area, where he won 78% of the vote, bolstered by young and black voters.
His win, alongside that of Ossoff, marked the first occasion since 1994 that two seats in the same state flipped in the same cycle – and the first time both had flipped Democrat since 1958.
As this was only a special election, he had to defend the seat in 2022. Against a much anticipated “Red Wave”, Warnock seemed poised to lose the seat to the Trump-backed ex-football star Herschel Walker. This was even as Republican Governor Kemp was re-elected by a wide margin.
His win, the last recorded in the midterms, meant the Democrats now held a majority. Coming in evenly split 50-50, John Fetterman’s victory in Pennsylvania meant they now had an absolute majority in the Senate.
In the chamber, Warnock has become a reliable backer of Democratic policies, only rarely verging from his party. Often working across the aisle to advance bipartisan policy, he has been noted as being on the party’s right but still supports a $15 minimum wage, abolition of the death penalty, and Palestinian statehood.
Perhaps his greatest contribution thus far is his contribution to the Inflation Reduction Act, capping prescription drug costs for seniors on Medicare and a $35 monthly cap for those on insulin.
Jasmine Crockett
- STATE: Texas
- OFFICE: Representative
Although only elected in 2022, Texas House Representative Jasmine Crockett has quickly found herself towards the front of the queue representing the Democratic future.
A member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, she had made headlines for her comments about figures such as Marjorie Taylor Green, who she called a ““bleach-blonde bad-built butch-body” on the House floor, or her comments during a committee that Trump left classified information “in the shitter.”
A former public defender, she has become a commonplace face on TV screens as a sharp-tongued, plain-spoken, headline-grabbing presence.
Beyond representing her constituents in Texas’s 30th district, Crockett also served as the 118th Congress Democratic freshman, representing new members political interests before party leadership, and was co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign, in which capacity she made a notable speech at the Democratic National Convention.
At present, she is leading hypothetical Democratic primary polling for Texas’s senate seat, in which John Cornyn is up for re-election. After all, she is a highly popular figure amongst voters, having been elected with 85% of the vote in 2024, facing no Republican opposition.
Jim Clyburn
- STATE: South Carolina
- OFFICE: Representative
First elected in 1992,17-term Representative Jim Clyburn represents the only Democratic district in South Carolina. Representing a black-heavy demographic region, he is the first African-American to represent the state in Congress since the 19th century.
Veteran Clyburn is highest-ranking African-American in Congress, having served as the House Majority Whip and thus the de facto number three Democrat in the chamber.
In his state, he remains tremendously popular, with his annual fish fry event becoming a must-attend event for elected officials wishing to court the influential Representative.
Perhaps no sign of his popularity is greater than his role in helping obtain Joe Biden the Democratic nomination in 2020.
Prior to his intervention, the former Vice President was floundering. In the first three primaries, Biden had struggled to find his footing, including placing fourth with less than 15% of the vote in the first race in Iowa. Subsequently, he placed fifth in New Hampshire with 8%, winning no delegates, and then a distant second in Nevada with less than 20%, less than half of that of frontrunner Bernie Sanders.
Three days before the South Carolina primary, Clyburn threw his weight behind Biden, helping him decisively win the state by nearly 30 percentage points. Polls show he won 61% of the black vote, thanks to Clyburn’s powerful endorsement. Despite being his third presidential campaign, it was his first ever primary win, with Biden proclaiming: “My buddy Jim Clyburn — you brought me back!”
This gave him momentum, which he brought into Super Tuesday, where he took the lead, later going on to win the nomination and become president.
Clyburn even privately confided that Biden should choose a black running mate after Biden said he wanted a female pick. Kamala Harris, seen as the natural choice, was chosen, with Clyburn stating he was “really pleased” with the decision.
On election night, Biden called Clyburn to tell him, “I would never be in this position, but for you”, a statement echoed by historian Joe Meacham.
Since, Clyburn has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and called on Democrats to resist President Trump’s agenda, which he has called “Jim Crow 2.0” and likened to 1930s Germany.
In June, he received attention for his willingness to hold the four-month-old baby of fellow lawmaker Brittany Pettersen during a press conference. It summarised Clyburn’s cuddly image as well as signaling how beloved the 85-year-old is within his party.
The above seven names prove Democrats can still win, even when the Bible Belt has not proven futile soil for the party. Aside from Manchin and Clyburn who are entering the twilight of their political careers, five of these individuals seem to have bright futures in the party, with some even looking at potential nationwide legislative or even executive offices.
GRIFFIN KAYE.