COVID Politics is Turning Red States Redder
Americans are getting very uncomfortable being in the political minority where they live, and we're beginning to pack our bags.
The date was November 6th, 2018. Long after the sun had set, when there was no more time left to get another voter to the polls before they closed, I got in my car, stopped at the gas station for a couple well-earned beers, and went home. I turned on the radio and logged onto Nevada’s notoriously slow-to-report Silver State Elections website. I was not hopeful. In fact, I was defeated. I had spent the election cycle working for the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, the 501(c)4 arm of the National Rifle Association. I loved my boss, and my small but dedicated volunteer base. It was overall one of the best jobs I’d ever had in the realm of political activism. For all the nonsensical talk from the left about what a cash-flush lobbying powerhouse the NRA supposedly is, though, I started the election cycle as one of two employees in the state, and ended it as the solitary one.
The NRA-ILA’s focus was, of course, on federal elections – but I knew that the chance to support milquetoast moderate and serial Trump-basher Dean Heller was not going to entice volunteers into my office. I informed my superiors that we were going to have to get gubernatorial candidate Adam Laxalt on our call script and door-hangers if we wanted to drive both volunteer engagement and voter turnout. They happily obliged, and it helped some, but the numbers were still just not there. Complacency drove part of it. Whenever we’d hold an event with free food and a guest speaker, the place was packed. But when the following weekend rolled around and it was time to hit the doors and phones, it was just the same handful of familiar faces time and time again. Perhaps some people had been so used to Nevada being a red state, they thought it couldn’t change. Perhaps they underestimated the seriousness of Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak’s anti-gun agenda. I told anyone who would listen that Sisolak and a Democrat-controlled legislature would immediately ban the private sale and transfer of firearms, and regulate how families must store their firearms in their own homes (which they did), but it fell on deaf ears.
The most glaring problem, though, was Nevada’s migrant problem. No, I’m not talking about migrants from Mexico, Haiti, Honduras, or anywhere that distant. I’m talking about the migration from our Western border: Californians. Driven into Nevada by California’s high taxes and the high cost of living, as well as the fact that everything one might want to do seemed to be illegal, they fled east. However, they never seemed to really comprehend that the near impossibility of living a middle-class life in California was in large part due to tax hikes and regulatory policies implemented by the state’s solid Democratic majority that it’s had for decades. Upon arriving in Nevada, their voting habits did not change. I found their cognitive dissonance hard to comprehend, but in much of California the simple thought of there being an alternative to the Democratic Party was unconscionable. It’s simply how they were raised. After all, it’s not as though their freedoms and quality of life had just been dismantled one day in one fell swoop. Most people are only casual observers of politics, especially at the state and local level. The technocratic fiddling with the state tax code or gun grabs orchestrated by people who obviously know nothing about guns weren’t quite invasive enough to show up on the average Californian’s radar.
Little did we know, however, that we were just two years away from the implementation of a number of coronavirus-driven laws and emergency measures, at this point largely carried out by a single political party, and in a hugely brazen and shameless manner. The Democratic Party wears the lockdowns that rob us of our livelihoods and the mandates that violate our bodily autonomy like badges of honor. They own it, and until very recently, they could not have been more proud. Migration from blue states to red ones has been an ongoing phenomenon since well before the time of COVID. Now, though, the sheer sense of consciousness behind what’s driving blue state residents’ decisions to move and awareness of who is responsible for those misguided policies could not be more palpable.
I should know, I’m one of them. That very night over 3 years ago, when my beer was gone and the press made it very clear how they expected Nevada’s gubernatorial election to shake out, I went to bed and asked my wife, “What do you think about moving to South Carolina?” Today, here we are, settled into the Lowcountry. Though our decision predated the COVID pandemic, we see in hindsight now how blessed we were for the timing. My wife, who remains unvaccinated, would currently be subject to weekly testing outside of contracted hours and on our own dime had she remained a teacher with the Clark County School District. The mask mandate remains in effect as well.
These days, U-Haul doesn’t even have enough trucks to meet the demand of everyone who wants out of California, and it’s refreshing to see the very conscious recognition on the part of blue state refugees as to what’s prompting their exit. For once, residents of red states can rejoice and welcome their new neighbors in a way we never did in Nevada. By and large these people are awake, and ready to fight to make sure their new home does not go the way of their old one. One strong piece of evidence for this is that Florida, for the first time in its history, has more registered Republicans than Democrats. In my new home state of South Carolina, we do not indicate party affiliation when we register to vote, but I personally know two State House candidates running in districts just outside of Charleston who are confident that new movers from out-of-state are the secret sauce that will flip their historically blue-leaning districts red.
This migration begs some important questions we must consider, though. First of all, is the reverse true? Are hard leftists leaving red states for California, New York, and Illinois? Not in any noticeable quantity that I’ve seen reported. The simple fact of the matter is that while it may be seen as virtuous to advocate for COVID-related public health measures like shutting down schools and forcing people to be vaccinated to go to work, not implementing these policies has little if any effect on Democratic voters’ quality of life. They get to send their kids to school just like the rest of us. Perhaps they even get sick, but elementary-age children and young parents will almost always get through COVID without serious illness, especially in the case of the new omicron variant. Perhaps not all of their coworkers are vaccinated, but they are. The data shows that the vaccines are offering little if any protection against infection or transmission at this point, but a good deal of protection against serious illness and hospitalization. This means that the vaccinated are no better-protected by spending their time around the unvaccinated than the vaccinated. You have to believe that past all their anger and vitriol, even they are aware of that fact.
The same goes for the policies outside of pandemic public health measures, such as guns and taxes. While you may get likes on social media for demanding more than “thoughts and prayers” from your legislators after a mass shooting, or for sharing a photo on of AOC’s “eat the rich” dress from the MET Gala, you don’t actually want to live in Chicago, where more than 2 out of 3 murders go unsolved. You don’t want to pay 10₵ for every bag you use at the grocery store like they do in California. While they would never admit it, progressives’ quality of life is better in states with more personal and economic freedom, just the same as it is for everyone else. That’s why they’re not packing up and heading to the nearest blue state.
The second and final question is what you must do as someone who consciously values your liberties, whether you live in a red or blue state. If you live in a red state, now is the time to demand policies of your state and local officials that (at least in theory) make progressives uncomfortable — never policies that violate their freedoms, mind you. Unlike them, we are above punishing those we disagree with and imposing our will on them. But this is the time to demand respect for open carry rights, and to make your states, counties, and cities into 2nd Amendment sanctuaries. This is the time to fight mask mandates at your local school board meeting if your district still has them. This political climate may not last long, and we could be back to being invaded by leftists before we know it. It’s time to let them know that if you want to bully your neighbors and dictate how they must live their lives, this is not the community for you.
On the other hand, if you are stuck in a blue state, now may be the time to consider voting with your feet and joining the rest of us. As someone who still has many friends and family members living in Nevada, and even worse off, my native Washington, I can tell you that the Karens and petty tyrants there don’t abide by the same code of ethics that I mentioned above. Empowered by their elected officials, they will publicly shame and ridicule you. When that doesn’t work, they'll use force and coercion – the very basis of their ideology. By now you’ve likely seen the recent Rasmussen poll that shows that over half of Democratic voters support fines and imprisonment for not taking the COVID vaccine, and nearly half support the same for publicly questioning its safety or efficacy. Nearly a third think you should have your children taken away. Yikes. It’s no wonder that so many people want to get as far away from these maniacs as possible. This is, after all, the party whose national hero ripped Japanese-Americans away from their homes and businesses and threw them in a camp against their will — and as we look to Australia, we see that practice still isn’t quite dead in the Western world. It’s time to start asking yourself just how much mistreatment you’re willing to subject yourself to.
Friends, please consider sharing this article on social media or emailing it to a handful of friends and encouraging them to subscribe. Given what we’re up against, it’s more critical now than ever that we’re able to get our message out there. Please consider following me on Twitter as well at twitter.com/BradyBowyer. Thank you for all of your support, and never let your guard down in the fight for liberty.
-Brady