Reagan Democrat

noun

A moderate and conservative Democrat, in the south and midwest, many of whom had previously supported conservative Democratic Alabama Governor George Wallace for President of the USA, who supported the presidential campaigns of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984.

Meanings

nounReagan Democrat (plural Reagan Democrats)

plural Reagan Democrats

  1. UShistoricalgovernmentA moderate and conservative Democrat, in the south and midwest, many of whom had previously supported conservative Democratic Alabama Governor George Wallace for President of the USA, who supported the presidential campaigns of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and 1984.
    1 more example

    Undoubtedly, there were some who thought that the party, once defined and consolidated, would appeal to “Reagan Democrats,” but there were also many who thought that the liberal groups dominating the party could easily splinter into diverse interest groups if not afforded the opportunity to come together as one.

    2020, Theodore F. Sheckels, The Rhetoric of the American Political Party Conventions, 1948–2016, Lexington Books, →ISBN, page 103
Cite this entry
APA

Reagan Democrat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Reagan%20Democrat

MLA

“Reagan Democrat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Reagan%20Democrat. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Reagan Democrat,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Reagan%20Democrat.

Source: Reagan Democrat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.