Who are the Democratic and Republican voters in S.C.?

Politics is all about opinions and everyone has one. When it comes to partisan politics, our opinions are often based on what we read or see on TV, stereotypes and prejudice and sometimes facts. But not too often facts.

Like everyone else, I have my own political opinions and frequent readers of this space read a lot – maybe too many – of my political opinions. So this column is about facts – political facts about who are Democratic and Republican voters in South Carolina.

Unlike a lot of other states, in South Carolina we don’t have voter registration by party affiliation so the only way to really know who is a Democrat and who is a Republican is to either ask them or look at primary elections, i.e., if someone shows up to vote in a Democratic or Republican primary, we can pretty safely assume they are a Democrat or a Republican.

This month, we have had the rare circumstance of having both a Democratic and Republican presidential primary one week apart. And because they were primary elections and far fewer people vote than in a general election, we get a look at who are the most hard core partisan voters.

Our friends at CNN have done us the great favor of conducting exit polls of voters in these two presidential primaries and they put the full results on their 2016 Election Central website. These polls are particularly interesting in that they were done by the same high quality professional company, using the same methods, in the same time period and asking many questions with the exact same wording.

So, what did these polls tell us? Some responses were what you would expect based on common stereotypes but some of the results may surprise you.

Gender: Democratic voters are significantly more female than male; Republicans are evenly split. Democrats – 39% men, 61% women and Republicans – 51% men, 49% women.

Age: On either end of the age spectrum, more Democrats are younger and more Republicans are older; in the middle years, they look about the same. Democrats – 17-29 15%, 30-44 20%, 45-64 47% 65 and older 19%. Republicans – 17-19 5%, 30-44 17%, 45-64 46%, 65 and older 27%.

Race: It will come as no surprise that African Americans are more D than R: Democrats – white 25%, black 61%, Latino 2%, Asian 1%. And Republicans are virtually all white: Republicans – white 96%, black 1%, Latino 1%, Asian 0%.

Education: The results based on education may surprise you. The stereotype of Democrats being poorly educated and Republicans being well educated is just not so in South Carolina. There were some small differences but not a whole lot. Democrats – high school or less 23%, some college 37%, college graduate 24%, postgraduate 16%. Republicans – high school or less 16%, some college 30%, college graduate 33%, postgraduate 21%.

Income: On the income scale, the stereotypes hold more true than with education. Democrats – less than $30k 33%, $30-50k 28%, $50-100K 24%, $100-200K 13%, $200k or more 2%. Republicans – less than $30k 10%, $30-50k 17%, $50-100k 37%, $100-200K 26%, $200k or more 10%.

Ideology: Traditional measures of political ideology show the greatest difference. There are very few Democratic voters that call themselves conservative; and virtually no Republican that calls themselves a liberal. Democrats – conservative 11%, moderate 35%, liberal 54%. Republicans – conservative 81%, moderate 17%, liberal 1%.

Most important issue: When it comes to what each party’s voters think is the most important issue, there is a fairly sharp difference. Democrats – health care 21%, economy/jobs 44%, terrorism 10%, income inequality 10%. Republicans – immigration 10%, economy/jobs 29%, terrorism 32%, government spending 26%.

Economic outlook: Though there are some gradations in attitudes, both parties’ voters are worried a lot about the U.S. economy. Democrats – very worried 50%, somewhat worried 34%, not too worried 14%, not worried at all 1%. Republicans – very worried 72%, somewhat worried 14%, not too worried 2, not worried at all 0%.

Urban, suburban or rural: There is no great surprise here; Democrats are more numerous in rural areas and Republicans dominate the suburbs. Democrats – urban 13%, suburban 27%, rural 60%. Republicans – urban 23%, suburban 48%, rural 29%.

Region of the state: The traditional stereotype of the Upcountry being full of Republicans and the Lowcountry full of Democrats is not really true. Though the general state division holds, it’s not by a lot. Democrats – Upcountry 18%, Piedmont 11%, Central 34%, Pee Dee 15%, Lowcountry 23%. Republicans – Upcountry 29%, Piedmont 13%, Central 23%, Pee Dee 15%, Lowcountry20%.

Although most of the questions were the same for both primaries’ voters, some questions were different and provided some interesting insights. Contrary to stereotypes, a lot of Democrats own guns: 41% do own guns and 59% don’t. Over half of Democrats go to church at least once a week, more than once a week 27%, once a week 26%, a few times a month 16%, a few times a year 19%, never 11%.

The popular perception that S.C. Republicans are a cold and calculating lot that only care about winning is not wholly accurate. When asked what was the most important thing in choosing a candidate, only 15% chose electability, it ranked 4th – far behind shares my values at 37%, can bring change at 31% and tells it like it is at 16%.

So, what does all this jumble of numbers tell us?

First, we are more alike than we think we are. Second, neither side is as one-dimensional as the other side thinks they are. And third, we should all slow down and really listen to each other and not just make assumptions based on knee jerk, partisan stereotypes.

And, most of all, thanks to everyone, on both sides, who cares enough to take the time to vote … and answer all these questions.

Phil Noble is a businessman in Charleston and is President of the SC New Democrats, an independent reform group started by former Gov. Richard Riley to bring big change and real reform. phil@philnoble.com.