Which Are More Republican

[H. Ross Peron]

Assuming other factors such as ethnicity, religious affiliation, and the other are relatively equal.

[RFayette]

I'm shocked by the results. 

Farms seem much more Republican.  Aren't most of the 80%+ GOP counties super rural?

[CountryClassSF]

Exurbs for sure. Some small towns can be very far-left liberal (i.e. Vermont, college towns).

[Flake]

I believe the answer is farms since many rural counties across the plains and in the South are very Republican friendly.

[Rockefeller GOP]

I would certainly go with exurbs.  Remember back in the '60s, '70s and '80s when GOP strength was fueled by the suburbs?  A huge chunk of those types of people have moved to exurbs.  Many farmers are Republicans, but a fair amount would break from the party over things like ethonal subsidies (see Iowa county results in 2008).  Also, as has been said, many small towns aren't as conservative as you'd think.  Once you take into account ancestrally Democratic places like Elliot County, KY (even if most of these places turned on Obama), small college towns and areas like WI/MN or New England, where the small towns are actually the most left-leaning ... Well, you're left with exurbs.

[Mr. Illini]

I would certainly go with exurbs.  Remember back in the '60s, '70s and '80s when GOP strength was fueled by the suburbs?  A huge chunk of those types of people have moved to exurbs.  Many farmers are Republicans, but a fair amount would break from the party over things like ethonal subsidies (see Iowa county results in 2008).  Also, as has been said, many small towns aren't as conservative as you'd think.  Once you take into account ancestrally Democratic places like Elliot County, KY (even if most of these places turned on Obama), small college towns and areas like WI/MN or New England, where the small towns are actually the most left-leaning ... Well, you're left with exurbs.

Madison, Duluth, and Boston/Cambridge bid adeiu.

As for OP, I went with farms. The farming community is represented by Republicans in the legislature in an incredible way. The GOP has been in their interests for a long time, and if you look at areas like central Illinois and Indiana, you see that these areas haven't jumped parties at all. Where you have the GOP shift has been in southern Illinois and Indiana and Appalachia and swaths of Missouri and Arkansas where farming is not as big and mining is.

[Suburbia]

Exurbs.

[Rockefeller GOP]

I would certainly go with exurbs.  Remember back in the '60s, '70s and '80s when GOP strength was fueled by the suburbs?  A huge chunk of those types of people have moved to exurbs.  Many farmers are Republicans, but a fair amount would break from the party over things like ethonal subsidies (see Iowa county results in 2008).  Also, as has been said, many small towns aren't as conservative as you'd think.  Once you take into account ancestrally Democratic places like Elliot County, KY (even if most of these places turned on Obama), small college towns and areas like WI/MN or New England, where the small towns are actually the most left-leaning ... Well, you're left with exurbs.

Madison, Duluth, and Boston/Cambridge bid adeiu.

As for OP, I went with farms. The farming community is represented by Republicans in the legislature in an incredible way. The GOP has been in their interests for a long time, and if you look at areas like central Illinois and Indiana, you see that these areas haven't jumped parties at all. Where you have the GOP shift has been in southern Illinois and Indiana and Appalachia and swaths of Missouri and Arkansas where farming is not as big and mining is.

Yes, I was mostly comparing suburbs/exurbs vs. rural (i.e., Minneapolis and Milwaukee suburbs vs. rural WI and MN).  My bad.  Those college towns (is Duluth one?) are certainly more liberal.

[ElectionsGuy]

Exurbs, though it depends where you are. In Wisconsin and Minnesota, its definitely exurbs. In places like Kansas, farms for sure.

[RFayette]

Aren't most rural areas still part of a small town or at least some incorporated community?

[buritobr]

I was looking at the Texas maps in Dave Leip's (blue for R, red for D) and I saw how the distribution of votes changed in the last 40 years.
In 2008 and 2012, urban Dallas County was red. Suburban Tarrant, Denton and Collin counties were light blue. Rural neighboring counties were dark blue. In 2000, Dallas was light blue. Tarrant, Denton and Collin were as blue as the neighboring counties. In 1988, Dallas was light blue like other rural neighboring counties. Tarrant, Denton and Collin were dark blue. In 1960, 1968 and 1976, Dallas, Tarrant, Denton and Collin counties were blue counties in the middle of red counties.
So, in the past, suburban Texas was more Republican than rural Texas. But now, rural Texas is more Republican.

[Sol]

Aren't most rural areas still part of a small town or at least some incorporated community?

Not generally in the south.

[dmmidmi]

Drawing on my knowledge of Michigan's political dynamic...

Some of the small towns are essentially 50-50. Due to Metro Detroit's massive size, I'd characterize the exurbs as Livingston, Monroe, and St. Clair Counties (someone else can feel free to disagree, though--Oakland County cities like Clarkston and Auburn Hills could probably count as the exurbs, rather than the immediate suburban area), which tend to be considerably more conservative than the city/metropolitan statistical area. The outer edges of Oakland and Monroe counties are a bit more GOP-friendly than the areas closer to the city, which shouldn't surprise anyone.

The farming areas in Michigan? They're almost uniformly Republican, and have been for some time.

Farms it is.