The South produced several electoral movements such as Strom Thurmond's Dixiecrats in 1948 and George Wallace's American Independent Party in 1968.
After the Civil War many white Southerners who had actively supported the Confederacy were temporarily without some of the basic rights of citizenship (such as the ability to vote).
White Democrats regained power by the late 1870s, and began to pass laws to restrict black voting in a period they came to refer to as Redemption.
Solid South refers to the electoral support of white voters in the Southern United States for Democratic Party candidates for nearly a century after the Reconstruction era (1877–1964).
African Americans in the South have mostly voted with the Democratic Party in state and national elections since the civil rights years.
In 1968, Democratic Alabama Governor George C. Wallace ran for President on the American Independent Party ticket.
In the 1976 election, former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination for President of the United States.
He defeated George Wallace in the Democratic primary and carried every Southern state in the general election, with the exceptions of Virginia and Oklahoma.
People of his hometown of Plains, Georgia held fundraisers with "covered-dish" dinners and its residents traveled north to campaign by train on the "Peanut Express".
Ronald Reagan won the 1980 presidential election in a landslide; Carter retained majorities in Georgia, West Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, becoming the last Democratic candidate to perform better in the South than nationally.
Gingrich, then the Minority Whip of the House, created the document to detail what the Republican Party would do if they won that year's United States Congressional election.
In particular, Bush's increased popularity following the September 11 attacks in 2001 enabled him to aid in the defeat of most Southern Democratic Senators in 2002 and 2004.
In the South, the scandal had the effect of ending Ralph Reed's political career, when he lost the primary election for Lieutenant Governor of Georgia.
In 2005, a Texas grand jury indicted DeLay on criminal charges that he had conspired to violate campaign finance laws.
DeLay denied the charges, saying that they were politically motivated, but Republican Conference rules forced him to resign temporarily from his position as Majority Leader.
While Republicans lost key Congressional leadership positions following the 2006 elections, new Democratic leaders emerged from below the Mason–Dixon line.
In Virginia, a state that Obama carried by 6%, Republican Bob McDonnell won the seat vacated by the term-limited Kaine by a 17% margin.
In Florida, Rick Scott won the seat vacated by Charlie Crist, who was elected as a Republican but switched to an independent during his unsuccessful U.S. Senate run.