Republican Revolution in 1994, Democrats still held a 2:1 advantage over the Republicans in southern congressional seats. Republicans first dominated presidential elections in the South, then controlled Southern gubernatorial and Congressional elections, then took control of elections to several state legislatures, and came to be competitive in or even to control local offices in the South. Southern Democrats of today who vote for the Democratic ticket are mostly urban liberals. Rural residents tend to vote for the Republican ticket, although there are sizable numbers of Conservative Democrats who cross party lines and vote Republican in national elections. Dr. Ralph Northam, a Democrat and the governor of Virginia (2018–22) has admitted that he voted for George W. Bush in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Despite this admission, Northam, a former state Senator who has served as Lieutenant Governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018, easily defeated the more progressive candidate, former Representative Tom Perriello, by 55.9 percent to 44.1 percent to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2017. Many of the Representatives, Senators, and voters who were referred to as Reagan Democrats in the 1980s were conservative Southern Democrats. One exception has been Arkansas, whose state legislature has continued to be majority Democrat (having, however, given its electoral votes to the Republicans in the past three presidential elections, except in 1992 and 1996 when "favorite son" Bill Clinton was the candidate and won each time) until 2012, when Arkansas voters selected a 21–14 Republican majority in the Arkansas Senate. Another exception is North Carolina. Despite the fact that the state has voted for Republicans in every presidential election from 1980 until 2004 the governorship (until 2012), legislature (until 2010), as well as most statewide offices, it remains in Democratic control. The North Carolina congressional delegation was heavily Democratic until January 2013 when the Republicans had occasion, after the 2010 United States census, to adopt a redistricting plan of their choosing. The incumbent governor is Roy Cooper, a Democrat. In 1992, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton was elected president. Unlike Carter, however, Clinton was only able to win the southern states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. While running for president, Clinton promised to "end welfare as we have come to know it" while in office. In 1996, Clinton would fulfill his campaign promise and the longtime Republican goal of major welfare reform came into fruition. After two welfare reform bills