Scott H. Huffmon

Community Context, Personal Contact, and Support for an Anti-Gay Rights Referendum

Using data from an unusual survey, we gauge factors influencing support for a state anti—gay rights referendum. After controlling for other powerful predictors of attitudes, we find personal contact (especially relevant and voluntary contact) has an important impact on public support, although community context does not. These findings support an integrated notion of interactions with “out” groups, grounded in social categorization theory, that sees community context and interpersonal contact as concentric circles, moving from abstract, detached forms of contact to more pronounced, personal forms. However, even among those with substantial interpersonal contact, support for the referendum was still widespread.

Excluding Mothers-in-Law A Research Note on the Preference for Matrilineal Advice

With whom do parents discuss medical and behavioral child-rearing questions? In a telephone survey of 167 parents (49 fathers and 118 mothers) in the southern United States, the authors found that mothers express a clear preference for their own mother’s advice as opposed to that of their mother-in-law. Fathers are less likely to consult any relative and show little preference for their own mothers in seeking parenting advice. Directions for further research are discussed.

History Made: The Rise of Republican Tim Scott

In a time of unprecedented racial polarization in partisan voting, and in a staunchly Republican Deep South state, one black Republican managed to reach the pinnacle of public offi ce. This article examines Tim Scott’s rise by analyzing precinct-level data to better understand his 2010 election to the US House and data from the Winthrop Poll to explore his more recent US Senate victory. To better understand support for Scott, we also report results from an embedded-survey experiment to assess respondents’ favorability toward Scott when he is characterized by two diff erent frames: (1) “Tea Party favorite,” and (2) “fi rst African American Senator from South Carolina since Reconstruction.” We found that conservatives, evangelicals, and less-educated individuals respond more positively to Scott when he is described as a “Tea Party favorite.” More than an intriguing case study, Scott’s rise tells a broader story of the complicated relationships among race, ideology, and partisanship in the contemporary American South. Before Tim Scott, the American South had sent only two African Americans to the US Senate: Blanche K. Bruce and Hiram R. Revels, both of Mississippi (Foner 1988 ). At the time of Scott’s 2013 appointment to the US Senate by Governor Nikki Haley, 132 years had passed since a black Southerner served in the upper chamber of the US Congress (i.e., Bruce in 1881). Like Bruce and Revels, Scott affi liates with the Grand Old Party (GOP); however, their shared party affi liation is perhaps all that Scott has in common with his Southern black Republican predecessors. Scott did not take offi ce and proceed to win election under the auspices of a Northern-engineered Republican Reconstructionera electorate 1 (Black and Black 2002 ). Only a small portion of adult-age South Carolinians is currently ineligible to vote; therefore, Scott’s support derives from a broad section of the general electorate. Furthermore, Scott owes his electoral success to white voters, not fellow black voters. He is a notable minority Republican in an overwhelmingly white-majority South Carolina GOP. Finally, Scott is a Deep South Republican, representing a party almost wholly distinct from and arguably antithetical to its Northern progenitor on matters of race. The GOP may be forever known as the “Party of Lincoln,” but its contemporary Southern cousin has been remarkably successful by embracing a strategy of racial conservatism (Phillips 1969 ) that has appealed to legions of white voters (Carmines and Stimson 1989 ; Hillygus and Shields 2009 ) and which primarily accounts for its current electorally dominant position throughout most of Dixie (Hood, Kidd, and Morris 2012 )—especially the Deep South (McKee and Springer 2015 ). Within the context of contemporary Southern politics, the rise of Republican Tim Scott—an African American from a poor family who managed to climb the South Carolina electoral ladder—seems improbable. This study chronicled Scott’s political ascendancy because the electoral success of a black Republican can provide considerable insight on the current state of party politics in the American South. The article begins with a brief political biography, focusing particularly on the critical 2010 election to the US Scott H. Huff mon is professor of political science and the founder and Director of the Social & Behavioral Research Lab at Winthrop University, which produces The Winthrop Poll. He can be reached at huff mons@winthrop.edu . H. Gibbs Knotts is professor and department chair of political science at the College of Charleston. He can be reached at knottshg@cofc.edu . Seth C. McKee is associate professor of political science at Texas Tech University. He can be reached at sc.mckee@ttu.edu .

Sentiment Toward Same-Sex Divorce

The legalization of same-sex marriage in some American states has brought about another legal issue: same-sex divorce. This chapter examines that topic through an investigation of the community sentiment of judges, legislators, and rank-and-file citizens with a particular focus on the degree and patterns of change in sentiment. We pay particular attention to patterns in those states where same-sex marriages are not recognized and find some evidence that judges may have slightly more positive sentiment than the mass public. Through a survey in a non-marriage equality state, we find evidence that the variables linked to marriage attitudes are in step with those regarding divorce. This survey also shows evidence that such attitudes are impervious to priming effects. As same-sex marriage evolves in law and public opinion, we anticipate that divorces will continue to play a central role in the debate.