PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) – In the heart of Kentucky’s coal country, where sons followed fathers and grandfathers into the mines, support for Democrats ran as deep as the coal seams that powered the region’s economy. But as the Appalachian coal sector’s future has dimmed, so has political loyalty.
The generational devotion to the party of Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton is still on display in the Pike County courthouse. Glass cases in the lobby showcase buttons, bumper stickers, signs and other memorabilia recounting Democratic victories. A space set aside for Republicans is empty.
But the political landscape is shifting amid a steep downturn in the coal business in the hills of eastern Kentucky.
That chain of support for Democrats in a swath of Appalachian counties – dating back at least to the New Deal – has been broken in the past two statewide elections as voters switched their support to Republican candidates for U.S. Senate and governor.
There is visceral disgust with President Barack Obama, and his environmental policies have been widely denounced by locals as anti-coal.