Biggest relative partisan shift in a county ever between two elections

[minionofmidas]

Does anyone have a list of the biggest county swings from 1996 to 2000?

I've started to make one...
Top 5 Dem-to-Rep shifts in New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio:
Piscataquis, ME 28,9
Meigs, OH 28,1
Vinton, OH 27,8
Essex, VT 27,4
Forest, PA 26,0
Top 5 Rep-to-Dem shifts, same area:
Essex, NJ 2,3
Montgomery, PA 2,0
Washington, PA 2,0
Delaware, PA 1,8
Rensselaer, NY 1,7
To get to relative shifts as defined above subtract 8,0 from Republican shifts, add 8,0 to Democratic shifts.
(Note: I'm not taking Perot, Nader etc results into account. The Rep shifts are larger than the Dem shifts simply because these counties are, on average, smaller.)

[minionofmidas]

For anyone confused about the above listing, Europe uses a comma rather than a period to signify the decimal point in a number.

Oh, yeah, sorry. Sometimes I think of that, sometimes I don't. And a point where you use a comma.
Update: including Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin as well as the states mentioned above.
Dem-to-Rep
Ontonagon MI 36,2
Dubois IN 30,3
Jefferson IL 29,8
White IL 29,7
Piscataquis ME 28,9

Rep-to-Dem
Dane WI 2,5
Essex NJ 2,3
Menominee WI 2,3 (hey! a Dem swing in a tiny county!)
Montgomery PA 2,0
Washington PA 2,0

[minionofmidas]

Update, incl. MN, IA, MO
top 5 dem-to-rep:
Mercer MO 40.4
Reynolds MO 39.4
Ontonagon MI 36.2
Shannon MO 35.9
Scotland MO 35.3
MOMOMO...
top 5 rep-to-dem
no change

[minionofmidas]

Including the Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas
Dem-to-Rep
Mercer MO 40.4
Reynolds MO 39.4
Billings ND 37.1
Ontonagon MI 36.2
Shannon MO 35.9

Rep-to-Dem
this has some funny results:
Russell KS 17.8 Dole's home town. Still solidly Rep.
Sioux SD 16.7 Standing Rock IR. Turnout increased by 50% but was still low.
Wyandotte KS 3.3
Dane WI 2.5
Menominee WI (another IR) / Essex NJ 2.3 each

[minionofmidas]

last update for today, incl. DE, MD, DC, VA, WV
dem-to-rep
Tyler WV 60,9 !!! Perot got over 20% here in '96 btw
Webster WV 40,8
Mercer MO 40,4
Reynolds MO 39,4
Billings ND 37,1

rep-to-dem
Russell KS 17,8
Sioux SD 16,7
Prince George's MD 9,9 (and that's a mighty big county)
Petersburg VA 6,4 a city
Montgomery MD 4,8 (another one)

[minionofmidas]

Including the South..
dem-to-rep
Tyler WV 60,9 (still trying to figure out just how a county can go from 52% Clinton, 26% Dole, 20% Perot to 65% Bush, 30% Dole...)
King TX 49,4
Owsley KY 45,9
La Salle LA 45,9
Cameron LA 45.5

rep-to-dem
Russell KS 17.8
Sioux SD 16.7
Prince George's MD 9.9
Petersburg VA 6.4
DeKalb GA 6.1

[minionofmidas]

And the final national result.

Top 5 Dem-to-Rep swings in 2000:
1. Tyler County, West Virginia 60.9 percentage points (ie, 52.9 relative to the nation)
2. King County, Texas 49.4
3. Mineral County, Montana 49.2
4. Clearwater County, Idaho 48.8
5. Lewis County, Idaho 46.6

Top 5 Rep-to-Dem swings in 2000
1. Russell County, Kansas 17.8 percentage points (ie, 25.8 relative to the nation)
2. Sioux County, North Dakota 16.7
3. Prince George's County, Maryland 9.9
4. Petersburg City, Virginia 6.4
5. Marin County, California 6.2

[minionofmidas]

Nice list, Lewis.

Looks like the biggest Republican gains were of course in rural areas. I would have expected urban areas to lead the Democratic gain column, though it was actually, respectively, Bob Dole's hometown and an Indian Reservation.

Regarding Prince George's County (MD), do you think its shift came from migration or changes in voting patterns?

PG's is about the most "non-white middle class" county in the US - alongside DeKalb GA, which came at No.6. That's a demographic Bush did very badly in.
I think it also became Blacker during the nineties.

Interestingly, the three cos in the Rep list in ID and MT are contiguous - though there's no road across that stretch of the Bitterroot range.

Al, if you read this, could you please comment on Tyler Co, WV?