Beyond dollars and cents, politics also appears to have a role in inter-state migration. The 15 bluest states, for instance, lost roughly 1% of their population from 2020 to 2022, according to the Cook Partisan Voter Index, while the 15 reddest states gained 1.1% at the same time.
People flee crappy government. Can Lefties really be so dense as to not understand that? No, this is not mere ignorance, at least at the top, it is will.
And what we are seeing is the movement of the most conservative–they realize that the old Leftism stinks and they tend to be more conservative (on average) than the populations to which they flee. And that makes sense–it is hard to move and you have to be pretty motivated to do so. There are a zillion details to deal with, both great and small.
So Florida and Texas get more “red,” while California, New York, and Illinois get more “blue” (by default). And non-Portland Oregonians don’t flee, but accomplish the same thing by trying to change the state borders and create a “Greater Idaho.”
Tale as old as time–when the ruling class becomes intolerable, there is a very natural division of the people. One group flees–the two groups can no longer live together.
That’s why Federalism is so important–it allows people of different beliefs to nevertheless stay united, without force. And the Left has desperately tried to tear down Federalism, relying instead on force and coercion.