 About 19.30% of families and 22.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.70% of those under age 18 and 22.20% of those age 65 or over.Political affiliation and voting patterns in federal elections generally follow those of other traditional southern states, where strong affiliation of conservative whites to the Democratic Party dominated during the period up to and just beyond the Civil Rights era of the 1960s and 1970s.With the rise of the Republican Party of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, the white population gradually began to support Republican national candidates, and ultimately shifted into the party.