So how did a felon incarcerated in a Texas prison manage to win 41 percent of the Democratic primary vote against the president of the United States? For starters, Keith Judd was either clever or lucky enough to have filed for the ballot in the heart of Appalachia’s anti-Obama belt. West Virginia’s county-by-county numbers tell an interesting story: Judd defeated the incumbent president in 9 counties across the state, and held him under 60 percent in 30 of West Virginia’s 55 counties. Whatever other forces may be at work in the Appalachian opposition to Obama — the role of race has been debated since his 2008 run — it’s clear the administration’s energy policies played a big role in the president’s lackluster performance. Locally, it’s referred to as “the war on coal.”
Looking at the map, Judd’s strongest support came from southern West Virginia’s coal country, close by the Kentucky border. The five coal counties that voted against Obama Tuesday also voted for Hillary Clinton by landslide margins in the 2008 primary. That cluster includes the place that might be described as the epicenter of the Obama resistance: Mingo County.
Known as “Bloody Mingo” for its storied history of labor unrest and bloodshed surrounding the coal mining industry – the acclaimed John Sayles movie “Matewan” was based on events there in 1920 – the county disliked Obama even before he was elected president.
Full Article: Keith Judd: How the felon won – POLITICO.com.