Follow-up on small businesses in the U.S.

A couple of days ago, I noted that the heat map of perceived perceived friendliness to small businesses in the U.S. (based on Thumbtack's survey of small business owners) closely matches the heat map of party vote shares. Specifically, doing business is perceived to be easier for small firms in states where the Republican Party fares better in presidential elections. The chart below depicts this association more precisely, demonstrating that there is indeed a strong positive relationship between Republican electoral advantage and perceived friendliness to small businesses. Values from 1-12 were assigned to the categories of perceived friendliness to small businesses; values from 1-7 were assigned to the categories of Republican electoral advantage. The Pearson correlation is .84, with p < 0.0001. (Variables are the same as those shown on the maps.)