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 political landscape is shifting amid a steep downturn in the coal business in the hills of eastern Kentucky.
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.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) credits opposition to President Barack Obama’s environmental policies for the switch in coal counties that for so long backed Democrats.
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