10. Meanwhile, in South Carolina -- where Sen. Strom Thurmond, the original Dixiecrat, had just bolted to the GOP -- a congressman did the same.

Segregationist Rep. Albert Watson publicly backed Goldwater in 1964. In retaliation, House Dems stripped him of his seniority.

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) July 3, 2018

11. In Mississippi, Thad Cochran -- a lifelong Democrat -- switched to the GOP in 1964 in opposition to the Civil Rights Act.

He then went on to head Nixon's Mississippi campaign and then win elections as a congressman and then senator.

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) July 3, 2018

12. Meanwhile, Rep. Trent Lott had been an aide to Dixiecrat William Colmer, who stayed a Dem because seniority made him the head of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.

Colmer chose Lott to succeed him in 1972, but had him run as a Republican. https://t.co/GZhFI60wCd

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) July 3, 2018

13. Jesse Helms made the same transition.

He'd grown up a Dem, helping Democrat Willis Smith run a race-baiting campaign for a senate seat in 1950 (see the ad below).

When Helms ran for the Senate on his own in 1972, however, just like Lott, the former Dem ran as a Republican. pic.twitter.com/12N8A48eZC

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) July 3, 2018

Or you can consider the switches made by state-level elected officials.

26-30. For instance, in 1968, five of the top officeholders in Georgia switched from the Democrats to the Republicans: pic.twitter.com/0xjLsqN50O

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) July 3, 2018