DropDownList is not passing any values - linq

Question

Creating a dynamic drop down menu for US states that is being called via linq. When I select a state and then click submit i walk though the code and it shows that I am passing null. The list displays as it should, Any guidance will help.
If you need any more information please let me know and ill post it.
Controller
// GET:
[AllowAnonymous]
public ActionResult DealerLogin()
{
var results = (from a in db1.States
where a.CountryID == 221
select new SelectListItem { Value = a.StateID.ToString() , Text = a.Name }).ToList();
}
View
#using (Html.BeginForm())
{
#Html.AntiForgeryToken()
<div class="form-horizontal">
<hr />
#Html.ValidationSummary(true, "", new { #class = "text-danger" })
<div class="form-group">
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.StateId, "States", htmlAttributes: new { #class = "control-label col-md-2" })
<div class="col-md-10">
#Html.DropDownListFor(model => model.StateId, Model.States.Items as List<SelectListItem>, "-- Select --", new { #class = "form-control" })
</div>
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<div class="col-md-offset-2 col-md-10">
<input type="submit" value="Create" class="btn btn-default" />
</div>
</div>
</div>
}
Model
public class EditProfile2
{
public int StateId { get; set; }
public SelectList States { get; set; }
}
UPDATED
Ok I have updates everything so it matches almost to #Fran answer, seems he was missing a few things but i got it to work. I also took what #Stephen Muecke said and got rid of the validation.

Answer 1

You seem to be going around all the built in stuff that MVC will give you for free.
Try this
You can use attributes to define what is required and to modify the display names without actually writing into your view.
ViewModel:
public class EditProfile2
{
[Required]
[DisplayName("State")]
public int StateId { get; set; }
public SelectList States {get;set;}
}
View: only including the relevant parts
Since we used attributes on our model, we don't have to give the text in the view. we can also use DropDownListFor instead of DropDownList. And also have this declaration add the "--Select State--" option
<div class="form-group">
#Html.LabelFor(model => model.StateId, htmlAttributes: new { #class = "control-label col-md-2" })
<div class="col-md-10">
#Html.DropDownListFor(model.StateId, Model.States, "-- Select State --", new { #class = "form-control" })
#Html.ValidationMessageFor(model => model.StateId, "", new { #class = "text-danger" })
</div>
</div>
Because of our previous use of attributes and built in framework elements, our action method can slim down.
Controller Action:
[AllowAnonymous]
public ActionResult DealerLogin()
{
var results = (from a in db1.States
where a.CountryID == 221
select new SelectListItem { Value= a.StateID.ToString(), Text = a.Name }).ToList();
return View(new EditProfile2 { States = new SelectList(results)});
}