The Mountain West—Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah—has become the new swing region in American politics. All signs point to these states, especially Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, being crucial in the 2012 election. Unfortunately, the rise of this region has been underreported in the media, and many political observers have only the most superficial understanding of the profound economic, political, and social changes that continue to reshape the Mountain West. America's New Swing Region is the remedy.

Led by bestselling author and political analyst Ruy Teixeira, a talented group of scholars assembled by the Brookings Mountain West program (housed at the University of Nevada–Las Vegas) presents the facts and the narrative necessary for understanding what is happening in this region and why it is so important.

Contents 1. Introduction and Overview

2. America's New Swing Region: The Political Demography and Geography of the Mountain West

3. Metropolitan Voting Patterns in the Mountain West: The New and Old Political Heartlands

4. Hispanics, Race, and the Changing Political Landscape of the United States Mountain West

5. The Political Attitudes of the Millennial Generation in the Mountain West

6. The Mountain West Today: A Regional Survey

7. Reapportionment and Redistricting in the Mountain West

Contributors include Karlyn Bowman (American Enterprise Institute), David Damore(University of Nevada–Las Vegas (UNLV), William Frey (Brookings Institution), Scott Keeter (Pew Research Center), Robert E. Lang (Brookings, UNLV, and the Lincy Institute), Tom Sanchez (Virginia Tech University), and Ruy Teixeira (Century Foundation and the Center for American Progress).