Output a string starting with a specific character from the string

import re


state_names=['Alabama','Alaska','Arizona','Arkansas','California','Colorado','Connecticut','Delaware','Florida','Georgia','Hawaii','Idaho','Illinois','Indiana','Iowa','Kansas','Kentucky','Louisiana','Maine','Maryland','Massachusetts','Michigan','Minnesota','Mississippi','Missouri','Montana','Nebraska','Nevada','New Hampshire','NewJersey','NewMexico','NewYork','NorthCarolina','NorthDakota','Ohio','Oklahoma','Oregon','Pennsylvania','RhodeIsland','SouthCarolina','SouthDakota','Tennessee','Texas','Utah','Vermont','Virginia','Washington','WestVirginia','Wisconsin','Wyoming']

a = str(state_names)
b=re.findall('^M', a)

print(b)