While the Republican Party retains its monolithic hold on the South, the rest of America remains deprived of universal healthcare, electric cars, sensible gun control laws, carbon emission bans, a progressive tax structure that underpins massive public investment, and collective bargaining laws that would compress the income inequality gap.
If these things are so desirable, then they can easily be implemented at the state level. In fact, many states have implemented these and other progressive initiatives. So tell your relative to move to California where he will find all the gun grabbing, emission banning, progressive taxing, high-on-the-hog living public employees he could ever want. The state needs him anyway. The producers are leaving California in droves -- moving to places like Texas.