Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Virus Discriminates by Governor's Party?

Does Covid-19 impact Democrat-run states more harshly than Republican-run states?  I heard that comment and thought it weird.  However, it's easy to check.  Let's look at the latest numbers.

Of the 10 states with the highest death tolls, 8 have Democratic governors.  Massachusetts and Florida are the exceptions.  Of the 10 states with the lowest death tolls, 7 have Republican governors.  Interesting but hardly conclusive.  More rural states tend to vote Republican while more urban states tend to vote Democrat.  Contagious diseases are harder on urban centers.

26 states have Republican governors and 24 have a Democrat.  Of note, 178 million people live in the Democrat states while only 150 million live in Republican states.  Of the 1.2 million people infected with Covid-19, 72% live in Democrat states.  80% of the deaths have been in Democrat states.  Correcting for population differences, 1 in 3,112 citizens of Democratic states have died while only 1 in 10,200 citizens in Republican states have died.  Odds of death are tripled in Democratic states.

Is this just a reflection of urban vs. rural populations or does it show that one party is better at handling such crises?

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