The broadband funding will go 2:1 to Republicans

Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) generated snickers and some jeers when he tweeted his excitement about the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding for Alabama. Even Twitter thought it necessary to add the context that Sen Tuberville voted against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) that is providing this funding. Despite all the GOP votes against the bill, Republicans do have reason to be excited: about 2/3rds of the Unserved and Underserved locations that are eligible for funding are likely GOP households. There are 11.9 million Unserved and Underserved locations in the 50 states that are eligible for BEAD funding. Using the election results from the county that they’re part of, 64% of those locations would vote for President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden. I think this number probably underestimates how GOP-leaning the broadband areas are. This funding is a generational opportunity to bring broadband to the 10.5% of American families that still lack service. It may also be a rare opportunity for bipartisanship and cooperation as a Democratic administration works to implement a program targeted largely at areas that voted the other way.