Red state institutions infected by the left, too

Shawn Fleetwood of the Federalist focuses on a disturbing new report about Republican-governed states.

A common trope trotted out in defense of the modern GOP is that, for all its shortcomings, electing Republicans to positions of power is better than electing Democrats. If that argument is true, then why are the institutions in so many so-called “red states” just as left-wing as their blue state counterparts?

A new report authored by the State Leadership Initiative (SLI) and obtained by The Federalist reveals how many Republican-run states “remain deeply entangled in the same bureaucratic bloat, cultural drift, and economic stagnation” that are features of those run by Democrats. While red and blue states often differ on major political issues (ex. gun rights and tax policy), the 2025 State Leadership Index shows how the implementation of these policies — specifically those in red states — “often operate within a [left-wing] framework that remains fundamentally unchanged.”

“State Leadership Initiative was founded to do the legwork to get Red States to live up to the campaign promises their elected officials made to their citizens when asking for their votes. This report shows that in huge aspects of governance — red states need to be more than blue states with lower taxes,” SLI Founder Noah Wall told The Federalist. “This report is a call to action to change that.”

The SLI index scores and ranks states based upon various metrics that are divided up into three primary sub-categories. These sub-categories include governance, which “measures the effectiveness and ideological alignment of a state’s bureaucracy;” economic vitality, which “measures whether a state is advancing material prosperity and building a sustainable foundation for long-term strength;” and cultural strength, which “evaluates the health and resilience of communities.

”When examining the governance of U.S. jurisdictions, SLI found an “alarming” level of federal dependency among red states. According to the analysis, “7 of the 10 most federally dependent states are red,” with federal dollars comprising “nearly 40% of [the] state budgets” of states such as Mississippi and West Virginia.

“This is not sovereignty; it is soft capture,” the index reads.

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