From the White House to the county courthouse, we have you covered on rural politics and policy. Look no further for election analysis and rural voter data, reporting on how policymakers and federal programs are aiming to serve rural communities, or simply the many roles rural people and places play in democracy and civic life.
Commentary: Why Do Richer Families Get More from a Program Designed to Relieve Poverty?
The president’s proposed budget calls for permanently expanding the Child Tax Credit to do what it’s supposed to do: help the most vulnerable families take care of their young people.
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Commentary: The Right Ideas and the Wrong Policy
USDA’s policies point to the right issues but continue to fail to sufficiently support small farmers and curtail agricultural industries consolidation.
SNAP Emergency Allotments Scheduled to Terminate in March
According to hunger relief experts, amending the 2023 Farm Bill is the only sustainable way to shield rural households from increased food insecurity long-term.
Commentary: The Pen Is Mightier than the AR-15
The most powerful national gun rights group is a skilled storyteller. Its narratives have proven time and again to be a powerful tool of political influence.
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Even More to Explore In Rural Politics and Government
Analysis: Final 2023 Budget Maintains Rural Housing Funding at USDA and HUD
Besides support for existing programs for home-owners and renters, the legislation created a new program to improve the conditions of manufactured housing.
Commentary: Primaries in S.C. and N.H. Should Be Seen as Complements, not Competitors
South Carolina and New Hampshire have strong but radically different types of rural perspectives. Moving South Carolina ahead in the primary calendar could help increase candidates’ attention to rural issues, not lessen it.
Commentary: Promises Kept – Democrats Invest in Connecting Federal Resources to Rural Communities
The Biden administration’s Rural Partners Network is looking for local applicants to fill federal liaison positions in eight states and Puerto Rico.
Commentary: Enjoy with Caution
Winning an extra Senate seat in Georgia shouldn’t obscure the fact that the Democrats are still falling behind the GOP in rural America. It’s good to celebrate a win, but Dems need to make sure the brutal race doesn’t turn into a pyrrhic victory.
Gap Between Urban and Rural Congressional Voters Widened in Last 16 Years
Voters in rural areas have become more Republican in their congressional preferences since 2006. Democrats, in the meantime, have held onto their advantage in the central part of the nation’s largest cities.
Commentary: Two Birds with One Stone with Farm Workforce Modernization Act
Lame-duck Session of Congress could address some of the immigration issues and inflation problems by passing legislation now pending in the Senate.
Analysis: Millions of Families Miss Full Child Tax Credit in Rural America
Families with higher incomes receive the full credit, but lower-income families may get less. Advocates call it an “upside-down” system that doesn’t deliver help where it’s needed most.
Commentary: The Dismantling of Rural Legal Aid
Starting with President Reagan, decades of Republican-led efforts led to a gradual corrosion of civil legal aid services. Rural communities saw legal aid offices close and some rural residents lost the only legal help available to them.
Abortion Ban Fails in Small Nebraska Town; Others Pass, Some Narrowly
A surprising result for a conservative community shows the potential limits of politicizing reproductive rights.
Analysis: Rural Voters Help Protect Reproductive Choice
Reproductive rights turned out to have an outsized influence on some of the midterm races and ballot measures, including those decided by rural voters.
Commentary: Democrats and Rural Voters in the 2022 Midterms – The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
A brief analysis of Democrats’ tactics for winning more of the rural vote shows some improvements and a lot of the same old mistakes, repeated.
The Political Divide Between Rural and Urban Georgia Worsened in the Senate Election
In last week’s election, Democrat incumbent Raphael Warnock won by a landslide in the large metropolitan area of Atlanta, while Republican Herschel Walker won by a similar margin among rural voters, according to a Daily Yonder analysis.
Rural Gun Deaths Exceed Urban Rates by 28%
Rates of rural gun deaths exceed urban rates because of increased suicide rates. But experts say that waiting periods and red flag laws can reduce the disparity.
Rural and Urban Counties with the Highest Gun Death Rates
Rural counties have higher gun death rates than the rest of the nation, which experts attribute to increased suicide rates.
Republicans Win Wis. Senate Seat with Help from Big-City Suburbs and Rural Voters
Suburban Milwaukee and rural voters were critical parts of Republican Ron Johnson’s win in the Wisconsin Senate contest.
Analysis: Democrats Have Issues that Rural Voters Love. Maybe They Should Talk about Them.
It’s not a foregone conclusion that rural voters pick Republican candidates. But addressing Democrats “rural problem” means they need to show up, pay attention, and talk about working-class issues.
Everywhere Radio: Rural America and the Midterm Elections
The final outcome of the 2022 midterm election is still coming into focus, but we’ve got some initial takeaways on high-profile candidates, key issues, and the state of rural voters.
Dem Gains with Rural Voters Add up to Senate Victory in Penn. but not Ohio
John Fetterman improved the Democratic performance with rural voters as part of winning Pennsylvania’s Senate race. But in Ohio, Democrat Tim Ryan’s similar advance against Republican J.D. Vance did not affect the bottom line. Republicans won the rural vote in both states by about 2 to 1.
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