Ransom County, North Dakota

[HAnnA MArin County]

Does anyone know anything about this place? It’s consistently the most reliably Democratic county in North Dakota (that is majority white), and it's rural. The county’s population is only 5,457, and the county seat is a town called Lisbon, which is also the largest city (population 2,133).

Racial Demographics
97.82% White/Caucasian
1.21% Hispanic/Latino
0.86% Biracial/Multiracial
0.42% Native American/Alaskan Native
0.37% Asian
0.35% Black/African American
0.13% Some Other Race
0.05% Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian

And like most other counties in North Dakota, Ransom County is heavily (74.54%) Lutheran, per the ARDA. Catholics comprise 18.22% followed by Methodists (5.00%).

Here’s how Ransom County voted in 2012. Democrats swept all but two races, and even in those races, the margin by which the Republicans won was close.

President: Barack Obama (D) 55.38% - Mitt Romney (R) 41.61% = D+ 13.77
U.S. Senate: Heidi Heitkamp (D) 68.71% - Rick Berg (R) 31.08% = D+ 37.63
U.S. Representative: Pam Gulleson (D) 66.14% - Kevin Cramer (R) 31.54% = D+ 34.60
Governor/Lt. Governor: Ryan Taylor/Ellen Chaffee (D) 52.97% - Jack Dalrymple/Drew Wrigley (R) 44.91% = D+ 8.06
State Treasurer: Kelly Schmidt (R) 52.42% - Ross Mushik (D) 47.58% = R+ 4.84
State Auditor: Scott Kelsh (D) 55.72% - Bob Peterson (R) 44.23% = D+ 11.49
State Insurance Commissioner: Adam Hamm (R) 50.24% - Tom Potter (D) 49.72% = R+ 0.52
Public Service Commissioner: Brad Crabtree (D) 59.15% - Randy Christmann (R) 36.48% = D+ 22.67
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tracy Potter (D) 52.83% - Kirsten Baesler (R) 47.08% = D+ 5.75
State Senate (District 24): Larry Robinson (D) 61.90% - Keith Hovland (R) 37.99% = D+ 23.91
State Senate (District 26): Jim Dotzenrod (D) 99.29% - Write-ins 0.71% = D+ 98.58
State Representatives (District 24): Naomi Muscha (D) 35.82% - Sharon Buhr (D) 27.50%
State Representatives (District 26): Bill Amerman (D) 31.02% - Jerry Kelsh (D) 29.85%

What's going on here?