I've noticed a strange voting behavior; it seems like Newton County, Arkansas, loves to strive against the stream:
- In the 2016 Democratic primary, it was one of only two counties that chose Bernie over Hillary.
- In 1996 it was one of only a few counties that refused to vote for their favorite son.
- In this year's gubernatorial Republican primary it was one of only five counties that chose Jan Morgan over Governor Asa Hutchinson.
- In this year's gubernatorial Democratic primary, it was one of only six counties that voted for losing candidate Leticia Sanders.
- It was Mike Hathorn's best country in the 2006 lieutenant gubernatorial Democratic primary, even though he only came third statewide.
- Sandy McMath almost won that county in the 1996 senatorial Democratic Primary, and it was moreover her best, even though she only came fourth statewide.
- In the 1994 Secretary of State Democratic Runoff it voted for the losing candidate Bill McCuen in a landslide, whereas its adjacent counties voted for Sharon Priest.
- And the strangest thing of all: Their Democrats seem to love Blanche Lincoln.
Plus, they voted for Obama in 2012, which is pretty amazing.
I could continue that list, but I think you got the gist.
Why have the Newton County inhabitants been bucking the trend for such a long time? Do they go to the booths thinking: "Uh! Who will loose the election? I'm so going to vote for them!"
What kind of people live there?
