Institute of Governmental Studies

At the end of the Civil War, the Republican Party came to be known as the “Party ofLincoln,” seeking to include blacks in the party and secure the rights of newly freed slaves.However, starting in the early 20th Century and solidifying in the mid-to-late 1960s, the twomajor political parties underwent a political realignment. Republicans now draw large support inthe once traditionally Democratic “Solid South,” championing smaller government and states’rights. Democrats, on the other hand, have gained in places such as the Northeast and havebecome champions of civil rights and government programs to aid the poor. As a result, blackRepublicans, once common in the Republican Party, have become all but extinct. Through acontent analysis of campaign advertisements and newspaper articles, this project aims to tracehow black Republicans have adapted to this shift in the Republican Party in comparison to whiteRepublicans in similar campaigns and states spanning the years 1972-2010. This study willanalyze whether black Republicans emphasize appeals to voters on economic conservatism,social conservatism, or black dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party, shedding light on howthe campaign tactics of black Republicans have changed over time, and ultimately, what this maymean for Republican efforts to bring more blacks into the party.