ESCAPING THE MADNESS

Tens Of Millions Are Moving Out Of Blue States

When this writer was still practicing law, a 30-something woman came to me to discuss divorce.  As we were sorting through her options, she told me that they had moved from Rochester, NY to the Portland area (2,700 miles) three years earlier BECAUSE OF politics.  She told me her husband & her just couldn’t STAND living in Rochester, where they were born & raised, because there were too many Conservatives there.  And they couldn’t stand both sets of parents because they were Conservatives.  They wanted to live in a community that “shared their values.”  Given her holier-than-thou attitude, moving to Portland was certainly a great choice for her.  She had plenty of other haters to rub elbows with.

That was 2017, and that was the first time I met a client who moved because of politics or “values.”  How times have changed!  As life in California, Oregon & Washington (COW) becomes increasingly unbearable, I am acquainted with dozens & dozens of Americans who moved due to politics and/or “values.”  But, unlike this divorce client, they are moving OUT OF Blue States, not TO them.  And they are moving in droves, according to a recent survey by Trafalgar Group.

REPUBLICANS AREN’T THE ONLY ONES ESCAPING

Big Media reported that Democrat-run New York State lost hundreds of thousands of residents due to their oppressive & unconstitutional lockdown tactics.  Most of these escapees moved to the Free State of Florida, which didn’t trample all over the Bill of Rights.  But that is old news.  Trafalgar’s new survey provides a lot more information about who is moving and why.  It reveals that migration of Americans from Blue States to Red States continues, and most of it has nothing to due with Covid.  It has to due with freedom and respect.

The survey found that 4.1% of Independents and 4.4% of Republicans had moved during the last three years to a region that more closely aligned with their political and/or personal beliefs.  Just 1.1% of Democrats reported that they had moved to a place that more closely reflected their beliefs.*

BLUE TO RED MIGRATION SHOWS NO SIGNS OF STOPPING

The Trafalgar survey also found that 9.4% of Independents and 10.4% of Republicans say they are planning to move within the next year or so to a region more aligned with their values.  Only 2.1% of Democrats express an interest in moving to an area that reflects their own beliefs.*

According to the American Enterprise Institute, the five states who gained the most residents due to state-to-state migration are Florida, Texas, Arizona, South Carolina and Tennessee.  These states all have Republican governors.  The states who lost the most are California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey.  These states aren’t just Democrat-run states, they have been in the vice grip of Democrat rule for DECADES.

U-HAUL TRUCKS STUCK IN RED STATES

Throughout 2021 this American heard from friends, neighbors & relatives how difficult it was to move.  As COW dug deeper & deeper cesspools for their hapless residents, those wanting to escape couldn’t find U-Haul trucks & trailers. 

SO MANY were moving east out of COW (moving west isn’t an option unless you can swim to Hawaii) and few were moving west into COW.  The U-Haul company had to hire drivers to retrieve their equipment from, for example, Montana, Idaho, Arizona, Texas, Florida, Tennessee and return it to the West Coast.

Some U-Haul franchisees would only rent to a customer who was driving ROUND TRIP.  To get around this restriction, some people flew east to a city in Idaho or Nevada, rented the U-Haul there, drove it to their home in COW, loaded up and drove east to their final destination in a Red State.

*Democrats/Liberals living in areas dominated by Republicans/Conservatives feel a lot more comfortable than vice versa.  Conservatives have a “live & let live” attitude and don’t bully Liberals.  Liberals have little respect for those holding different views and often feel free to bully & harass their Conservative co-workers, neighbors, etc. Conservatives jokingly call this “living behind enemy lines.”  This will be the topic of a future article.