Seeing Red:  Yes, most of the South is seriously conservative, but some golf communities sing the blue

    At a July 4th block party in front of our condominium in Pawleys Plantation in 2008, I got into a heated political discussion with a neighbor about the U.S. Presidential campaign.  We were like the popular notion of two Greeks at an Athens café, stammering about the stupidity of the other’s position.  Thankfully, like two such combative Greeks, we did not stop talking to each other the rest of the summer and after the election.
    That dustup, though, got me thinking that, for some of us who want our retirements to be free of hard-edged discourse and rancor, we might want to factor political considerations into our search for a golf community home in the southern U.S.  On the face of it, southern states are mostly “red,” although North Carolina and Virginia went purple in 2008.  It stands to reason, therefore, that most of the golf communities in the South would be located in counties that are red (conservative).  A progressive Democrat couple from, say, New York City who choose a golf community in a deeply red county could be in for painful election cycles during their retirement.  A conservative couple from, say, outside Dallas, TX, will doubtless feel more comfortable.

Oases of blue in sea of red
    To test my notion that the South sees red, I took a look at results by county for the 2008 election, and I was surprised to find that, even in a deeply red state like South Carolina, a few counties with golf communities we have visited voted for the Obama/Biden ticket, although most, as expected, opted for McCain/Palin.  In Richland County, for example, voters went almost 2 to 1 for the Democrat ticket. (Richland is home to state capital Columbia and the University of South Carolina’s main campus, as well as a few golf communities we have visited.)  Another surprise:  Most of the counties we looked at were decidedly purple; that is, neither party won with more than 55% of the vote.
    As a service to those who will consider the political leanings of their neighbors as one criterion in the search for a golf community home, we offer our barely scientific assessment of where golf communities we like rank along the spectrum from progressive to conservative, based on 2008 county-by-county election results.  Note that attitudes shift, sometimes en masse, and that some voting district boundaries have been realigned since the 2008 election.

"Some of my best friends are..."

   We understand that the political persuasion inside the gates of a community may not exactly reflect the attitudes of those living outside the gates, but in discussions with residents at a few communities on our list, we found mostly correlation.  For example, Henderson County in North Carolina went for McCain/Palin by more than 2 to 1 in 2008.  
   “I polled a few of my pals,” says Mike Tower, a resident of Champion Hills in county seat Hendersonville, and a columnist for the local newspaper, “and they think our community is 70/30 for the Republicans. I must say, though, that I have never heard a single negative exchange because of political beliefs.
   “It's more like ‘some of my best friends are....’"
   Interestingly, when Mike checked with the Hendersonville director of voter registrations, the breakdown of registrations was 40% Republican, 24% Democrat and 35% unaffiliated.
    Obviously, if you are looking for a golf home, your criteria will include factors other than politics.  I can help you identify those communities that most closely match all your requirements.  Please contact me to discuss which those might be.

All Politics Local
   In the following list, towns and selected golf communities in the local area are displayed by how their counties voted in the 2008 Presidential election: