The Mississippi Delta became dominated by industrial agriculture in the 20th century, with cotton, rice, and soybeans by far the biggest exports from the region. The 1st District covers most of the Arkansas Delta area and stretches as far west as the Ozarks. The farming areas, despite their fertility, are generally poor by national standards. Jobs are limited and unemployment and undereducation are major issues. Rice farms receive substantial subsidies from the federal farming program. Three of the top five subsidy farms in the United States are in this district, and they have received more than $100 million since 1996.
Some manufacturing has taken place in the region recently. Several auto parts factories were built in Marion, and Toyota has considered it as the site for its seventh North American plant. Jonesboro is the largest city. It is home to a sizable food processing industry, with companies such as Nestle and Frito-Lay sited here. Jonesboro is also home to Arkansas State University (ASU)-Jonesboro. While Jonesboro is dominated by conservative white Republican voters, as are some of the hill counties, African Americans in the Mississippi River Delta are committed Democratic voters.
Until recently, this district makeup resulted in a fairly closely divided vote in national politics. However, the district has been swept up in the growing Republican trend in Arkansas. While Al Gore narrowly carried the district in 2000 with 50% of the vote, George W. Bush won the district in 2004. The district swung even more Republican in 2008, giving John McCain 58.69% of the vote while Barack Obama received 38.41% here. The Republican vote has steadily increased since then with Donald Trump tallying 65 percent of the vote in 2016, his best showing in the state.
The district was redesigned to take in additional counties in the southeastern portion that were part of the 4th district which in turn took the entire eastern Arkansas border. It is now more than 76% white, and they support Republican presidential candidates.
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