(Thread) Interesting factoids about presidential elections.

[SingingAnalyst]

1992 was the last time (1) at least one county tied; (2) MO voted left of the nation; (3) NJ voted right of the nation; (4) WY was reasonably competitive.

[The Arizonan]

Morris County, KS (between Bush and Perot)

Morris County is truly a jewel, as third-party counties are rare anyway, and a tie between a major party and a third party is like a coin ship in Super Mario Bros 3. 💎💰

How exactly do you get the coin ship? I've done it only once and it was by accident.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

There was only one president who was never elected by the Electoral College, neither as president nor as vice president. Guess who.

[peter88]

There was only one president who was never elected by the Electoral College, neither as president nor as vice president. Guess who.

oh that's funny

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

There was only one president who was never elected by the Electoral College, neither as president nor as vice president. Guess who.

Gerald Ford.

[twenty42]

Oregon voted to the right of the tipping-point state (PA) in 1996. For a venerable "blue wall" state that has trended dramatically left since 1980, it's odd that it was an "icing on the cake" state for Democrats in such a landslide victory.

[MarkD]

Just looking at the last four elections ...

The change in the raw number of votes cast from 2004, to 2008, to 2012, to 2016 was as follows: A 7.5% increase from 2004 to 2008, then a 1.7% decrease to 2012, then a 5.75% increase to 2016.
Only twelve states out of all 50 had a similar pattern: a big increase, then a small decrease, then a big increase again. Those twelve were Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Texas, and Wyoming.
Sixteen states and DC did not experience a decrease from 2008 to 2012; they increased each time: Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, Washington. The D. of C. had the highest rate of increase from 2004 to 2016: the raw number of votes cast in 2016 was 36.77% greater than in 2004, which was higher than any of the fifty states! North Carolina grew the fastest among the states: the votes cast in 2016 were 35.43% more than in 2004.
That still leaves twenty-two states that did not experience change by those two patterns: big increase, slight decrease, big increase (ending in 2016 with more than had been cast in 2008); or increase, increase, increase.

Three states hit its peak of voter turnout in 2004, and have been lower than that ever since. Here are the number of votes cast for President each year in Oklahoma:
2004 -- 1,463,758
2008 -- 1,462,661
2012 -- 1,334,872
2016 -- 1,452,992

South Dakota:
2004 -- 388,215
2008 -- 381,975
2012 -- 363,815
2016 -- 370,093

West Virginia:
2004 -- 755,887
2008 -- 713,451
2012 -- 670,438
2016 -- 714,423

Ohio had its peak in 2008, but the votes cast in both 2012 and 2016 were lower than either 2008 or 2004:
2004 -- 5,627,908
2008 -- 5,708,350
2012 -- 5,580,847
2016 -- 5,496,487

Hawaiians were most enthusiastic about voting when their native son, Barack Obama, was on the ballot the first time. Here are the votes cast in Hawaii:
2004 -- 429,013
2008 -- 453,568
2012 -- 434,697
2016 -- 428,937

Maine followed a pattern almost exactly the opposite of Hawaii, going down twice in a row before springing back up again, a lot:
2004 -- 740,752
2008 -- 731,163
2012 -- 713,180
2016 -- 747,927

Wisconsin also had a bizarre pattern: a slight decrease, followed by a bigger increase, then an even bigger decrease (although all of the changes were very small, the number of votes cast being so similar each time):
2004 -- 2,997,007
2008 -- 2,983,417
2012 -- 3,068,434
2016 -- 2,976,150

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Maine followed a pattern almost exactly the opposite of Hawaii, going down twice in a row before springing back up again, a lot:
2004 -- 740,752
2008 -- 731,163
2012 -- 713,180
2016 -- 747,927

It seems like the MAINEiacs (hö hö hö) in the 2nd district had waited for decades till their Redeemer Trump finally came. It'd be interesting to analyze the numbers for either congressional district.

Wisconsin also had a bizarre pattern: a slight decrease, followed by a bigger increase, then an even bigger decrease (although all of the changes were very small, the number of votes cast being so similar each time):
2004 -- 2,997,007
2008 -- 2,983,417
2012 -- 3,068,434
2016 -- 2,976,150

Seems like a home state effect for Paul Ryan.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

There's one state whose county results map has looked the same since 2000 with both colors being used.
Guess which.

[Kyle Rittenhouse is a Political Prisoner]

There's one state whose county results map has looked the same since 2000. Guess which.

Every election since 1988, actually.

[twenty42]

There's one state whose county results map has looked the same since 2000. Guess which.

Every election since 1988, actually.

Hawaii

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

You both misread the question.

[Skunk]

There's one state whose county results map has looked the same since 2000 with both colors being used.
Guess which.

If you mean same as 2000, it's New Hampshire.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

No there is a county map (besides Hawaii) that has looked the same since 2000 (irrespective of the hues).

[Skunk]

No there is a county map (besides Hawaii) that has looked the same since 2000 (irrespective of the hues).

Massachusetts?

[GlobeSoc]

No there is a county map (besides Hawaii) that has looked the same since 2000 (irrespective of the hues).

Arizona?

[BlueDogDemocrat]

No there is a county map (besides Hawaii) that has looked the same since 2000 (irrespective of the hues).

Massachusetts?

I think that's right

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

No there is a county map (besides Hawaii) that has looked the same since 2000 (irrespective of the hues).

Arizona?

That's right.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

The two Dakotas only voted four times for different candidates: 1892, 1896, 1912, 1916.

The interesting thing about it is the factoid that each time a different voting permutation can be found on the respective election map: P/R, R/D, D/P, D/R.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Mississippi and Alabama have voted the same way in almost every election both of them could vote in.

[SingingAnalyst]

Mississippi and Alabama have voted the same way in almost every election both of them could vote in.

I believe the same is true of ME and VT, which differed only in 1912 and 1968 (at least going back to 1900 or so).

[Don Vito Corleone]

Mississippi and Alabama have voted the same way in almost every election both of them could vote in.

Which elections did they vote differently?

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Mississippi and Alabama have voted the same way in almost every election both of them could vote in.

Which elections did they vote differently?

1840: Mississippi voted for William Harrison (Whig), whereas Alabama voted for Martin van Buren (Dem).
1960: Mississippi sent unpledged electors to the Electoral College, whereas Kennedy won the popular vote in Alabama (with unpledged electors voting for Byrd/Thurmond being sent to the College).

Technically also 1868, when Mississippi didn't participate in the presidential election (while Alabama voted for Republican Ulysses Grant).

[twenty42]

--Three states flipped from D to R in 1996 (CO, MT, GA) despite a three-point D swing nationally. Two states that year flipped from R to D (AZ, FL), which means that Republicans won more states in 1996 than they did in 1992. Is this the only presidential election in history where the popular vote swung one way but the other party made a net gain in states carried?

--2016 IA was as close as 2004 CA.

--HRC received the lowest percentage of the popular vote for a Democrat since 1992.

--All three Clinton elections were pluralities.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

In 2016, three candidates who competed in the GOP primary could claim victory on Election Night.