Large counties vs. small counties

[Ebowed]

This is a comparison of the candidates' performances in states in small counties and large counties.  Any county where over 100,000 votes was cast is considered large.

Northeast

Maine (Large)
Obama - 62.21%
McCain - 36.07%
Other - 1.73%

Maine (Small)
Obama - 55.42%
McCain - 43.28%
Other - 1.30%

New Hampshire (Large)
Obama - 50.61%
McCain - 48.08%
Other - 1.31%

New Hampshire (Small)
Obama - 58.00%
McCain - 40.61%
Other - 1.39%

Vermont (All Small)
Obama - 67.46%
McCain - 30.45%
Other - 2.09%

Massachusetts (Large)
Obama - 61.03%
McCain - 36.79%
Other - 2.19%

Massachusetts (Small)
Obama - 72.86%
McCain - 24.57%
Other - 2.57%

Connecticut (Large)
Obama - 61.46%
McCain - 37.46%
Other - 1.08%

Connecticut (Small)
Obama - 56.87%
McCain - 41.45%
Other - 1.68%

Rhode Island (Large)
Obama - 66.02%
McCain - 31.94%
Other - 2.04%

Rhode Island (Small)
Obama - 59.20%
McCain - 38.68%
Other - 2.12%

New York (Large)
Obama - 66.28%
McCain - 32.80%
Other - 0.92%

New York (Small)
Obama - 50.32%
McCain - 47.97%
Other - 1.71%

New Jersey (Large)
Obama - 58.21%
McCain - 40.58%
Other - 1.21%

New Jersey (Small)
McCain - 52.43%
Obama - 45.80%
Other - 1.77%

Pennsylvania (Large)
Obama - 58.76%
McCain - 40.03%
Other - 1.21%

Pennsylvania (Small)
McCain - 55.10%
Obama - 43.09%
Other - 1.81%

Maryland (Large)
Obama - 66.85%
McCain - 31.59%
Other - 1.57%

Maryland (Small)
McCain - 54.89%
Obama - 43.36%
Other - 1.75%

Delaware (Large)
Obama - 69.66%
McCain - 29.07%
Other - 1.26%

Delaware (Small)
McCain - 49.85%
Obama - 49.16%
Other - 0.99%

District of Columbia (All Large)
Obama - 92.46%
McCain - 6.53%
Other - 1.01%

[Ebowed]

Southeast (minus Virginia)

West Virginia (All Small)
McCain - 55.60%
Obama - 42.51%
Other - 1.89%

Kentucky (Large)
Obama - 54.39%
McCain - 44.31%
Other - 1.30%

Kentucky (Small)
McCain - 62.05%
Obama - 36.39%
Other - 1.55%

Tennessee (Large)
Obama - 53.32%
McCain - 45.49%
Other - 1.19%

Tennessee (Small)
McCain - 65.25%
Obama - 33.27%
Other - 1.48%

North Carolina (Large)
Obama - 59.15%
McCain - 39.99%
Other - 0.86%

North Carolina (Small)
McCain - 55.79%
Obama - 43.25%
Other - 0.96%

South Carolina (Large)
McCain - 53.89%
Obama - 44.80%
Other - 1.32%

South Carolina (Small)
McCain - 53.86%
Obama - 44.97%
Other - 1.16%

Georgia (Large)
Obama - 59.45%
McCain - 39.58%
Other - 0.98%

Georgia (Small)
McCain - 59.39%
Obama - 39.60%
Other - 1.01%

Florida (Large)
Obama - 53.50%
McCain - 45.56%
Other - 0.94%

Florida (Small)
McCain - 61.74%
Obama - 36.99%
Other - 1.27%

Alabama (Large)
McCain - 49.76%
Obama - 49.44%
Other - 0.80%

Alabama (Small)
McCain - 66.28%
Obama - 32.70%
Other - 1.02%

Mississippi (Large)
Obama - 69.24%
McCain - 30.26%
Other - 0.51%

Mississippi (Small)
McCain - 58.57%
Obama - 40.58%
Other - 0.85%

Louisiana (Large)
McCain - 49.99%
Obama - 48.65%
Other - 1.36%

Louisiana (Small)
McCain - 63.80%
Obama - 34.60%
Other - 1.59%

Arkansas (Large)
Obama - 55.07%
McCain - 43.52%
Other - 1.41%

Arkansas (Small)
McCain - 61.37%
Obama - 36.04%
Other - 2.60%

[Ebowed]

West

Washington (Large)
Obama - 60.78%
McCain - 36.89%
Other - 2.33%

Washington (Small)
McCain - 51.29%
Obama - 46.10%
Other - 2.61%

Oregon (Large)
Obama - 62.38%
McCain - 34.94%
Other - 2.68%

Oregon (Small)
McCain - 50.88%
Obama - 45.93%
Other - 3.19%

California (Large)
Obama - 61.84%
McCain - 36.06%
Other - 2.10%

California (Small)
Obama - 50.32%
McCain - 47.06%
Other - 2.62%

Hawaii (Large)
Obama - 69.83%
McCain - 28.74%
Other - 1.44%

Hawaii (Small)
Obama - 76.07%
McCain - 22.08%
Other - 1.85%

Idaho (Large)
McCain - 51.63%
Obama - 45.49%
Other - 2.87%

Idaho (Small)
McCain - 64.84%
Obama - 32.29%
Other - 2.87%

Montana (All Small)
McCain - 49.49%
Obama - 47.11%
Other - 3.40%

Wyoming (All Small)
McCain - 64.78%
Obama - 32.54%
Other - 2.68%

Utah (Large)
McCain - 59.20%
Obama - 37.29%
Other - 3.51%

Utah (Small)
McCain - 68.29%
Obama - 28.16%
Other - 3.55%

Colorado (Large)
Obama - 55.68%
McCain - 42.72%
Other - 1.60%

Colorado (Small)
McCain - 51.57%
Obama - 46.70%
Other - 1.73%

Nevada (Large)
Obama - 57.77%
McCain - 40.16%
Other - 2.07%

Nevada (Small)
McCain - 57.88%
Obama - 39.12%
Other - 3.00%

Arizona (Large)
McCain - 53.22%
Obama - 45.11%

Arizona (Small)
McCain - 54.40%
Obama - 43.71%

New Mexico (Large)
Obama - 60.03%
McCain - 38.67%
Other - 1.30%

New Mexico (Small)
Obama - 55.28%
McCain - 43.42%
Other - 1.31%

[Ebowed]

Midwest

Minnesota (Large)
Obama - 59.53%
McCain - 38.56%

Minnesota (Small)
McCain - 50.29%
Obama - 47.34%

Iowa (Large)
Obama - 57.67%
McCain - 40.67%

Iowa (Small)
Obama - 52.91%
McCain - 45.40%

Wisconsin (Large)
Obama - 60.16%
McCain - 38.59%

Wisconsin (Small)
Obama - 53.50%
McCain - 44.87%

Michigan (Large)
Obama - 61.36%
McCain - 36.96%

Michigan (Small)
Obama - 50.22%
McCain - 47.82%

Missouri (Large)
Obama - 57.80%
McCain - 41.05%

Missouri (Small)
McCain - 59.38%
Obama - 38.93%

Illinois (Large)
Obama - 66.74%
McCain - 32.03%

Illinois (Small)
Obama - 49.56%
McCain - 48.63%

Indiana (Large)
Obama - 57.83%
McCain - 41.20%

Indiana (Small)
McCain - 53.10%
Obama - 45.42%

Ohio (Large)
Obama - 57.38%
McCain - 41.04%

Ohio (Small)
McCain - 55.26%
Obama - 42.58%

[bgwah]

Interesting

[RI]

So far, Obama has done better in small counties than in large ones in four states: Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

[bgwah]

So far, Obama has done better in small counties than in large ones in four states: Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

-Honolulu = Mormons + military?
-New Hampshire's more populous counties = suburban Boston
-MA's less populous counties have lots of colleges, maybe?
-South Carolina = more blacks in rural areas?

[Hash]

-New Hampshire's more populous counties = suburban Boston

Yes. The less populous counties are mostly in NH-2, and aren't those areas quite progressive?

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Western MA, aka where Obama broke 70%, is quite similiar to VT IIRC.

[Verily]

-MA's less populous counties have lots of colleges, maybe?

Not particularly. They're just fairly Anglo, Vermont-like rural areas (Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire Counties) or resort islands (Dukes/Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket).

Hampshire County does contain the Five Colleges, and Williams is in Berkshire County, but Williams contributes only a negligible amount of the Berkshire County vote, and of the Five Colleges, only UMass-Amherst is particularly large. Most MA college students are in Suffolk (BU, BC, Northeastern, UMass-Boston, etc.) or Middlesex (Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Brandeis, etc.) Counties.

[RI]

-South Carolina = more blacks in rural areas?

That, and that most of the 100,000+ counties are large, suburban ones that vote heavily Republican. Of the six large counties in SC, only two voted for Obama (Charleston and Richland). The other four were all >60% McCain: Lexington County (suburban Columbia), Greenville County (Greenville), Spartanburg County (Spartanburg), and Horry County (Myrtle Beach--suburban, snowbirds, retirees, voted for Clinton)

[RIP Robert H Bork]

-New Hampshire's more populous counties = suburban Boston
-MA's less populous counties have lots of colleges, maybe?

-Yes, you are thinking of Hillsborough and Rockingham.
-Only in Hampshire County.

[fezzyfestoon]

Horry County (Myrtle Beach--suburban, snowbirds, retirees, voted for Clinton)

Suburban what?  It's resort towns completely surrounded by hick country.  And the last Democrat it voted for was Jimmy Carter in '76.

[nclib]

Horry County (Myrtle Beach--suburban, snowbirds, retirees, voted for Clinton)

Suburban what?  It's resort towns completely surrounded by hick country.  And the last Democrat it voted for was Jimmy Carter in '76.

I think he meant Hillary in the Primary--the only SC county to do so.

[nclib]

States with largest difference between large and small counties:

MD   46.79
TN   39.81
GA   39.66
MO   37.2
KY   35.74

*MS,DE,AR would have made the list, but I excluded them due to having only 1 large county.

[they don't love you like i love you]

So far, Obama has done better in small counties than in large ones in four states: Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

-Honolulu = Mormons + military?

Not quite. Suburban Honolulu has the few Republican areas in Hawaii (aside from that strange island), mostly just affluent suburbia. Also some Japanese areas, Japanese Americans tend to be fairly Republican.

Though please note McCain won a total of three precincts in Hawaii.

[Linus Van Pelt]

Japanese Americans tend to be fairly Republican.

Really? I thought Japanese were among the most Democratic Asian-American voters, having neither the Chinese and Vietnamese anti-Communist thing nor Filipino- or Korean-style Christian conservatism.

[Verily]

Japanese Americans tend to be fairly Republican.

Really? I thought Japanese were among the most Democratic Asian-American voters, having neither the Chinese and Vietnamese anti-Communist thing nor Filipino- or Korean-style Christian conservatism.

They are. BRTD is just bullsh**tting.

Honolulu is relatively conservative compared to the rest of Hawaii because (a) There are actual rich people who vote there (all year round), (b) The whites in Honolulu are more representative of whites on the mainland, while the whites elsewhere in Hawaii vote like whites in resort areas, (c) military installations, (d) There are more native Hawaiians in the rural areas than in Honolulu, and (e) Ethnic identity and tensions are higher in Honolulu than elsewhere in the state, prompting some level of ethnic voting that allows for ethnicity-based political machines (for both parties, but that tends to be a moderating effect on the overall vote)

[Sbane]

So far, Obama has done better in small counties than in large ones in four states: Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

-Honolulu = Mormons + military?

Japanese Americans tend to be fairly Republican.

Actually they are probably the most democratic, although I am sure Indians now hold that honor.

[phk]

Japanese Americans tend to be fairly Republican.

Really? I thought Japanese were among the most Democratic Asian-American voters, having neither the Chinese and Vietnamese anti-Communist thing nor Filipino- or Korean-style Christian conservatism.

Not since the 1990s at least. They were probably GOP till Clinton, assuming the Japanese-American internment during the FDR era had some impact.

[Sbane]

Japanese Americans tend to be fairly Republican.

Really? I thought Japanese were among the most Democratic Asian-American voters, having neither the Chinese and Vietnamese anti-Communist thing nor Filipino- or Korean-style Christian conservatism.

Not since the 1990s at least. They were probably GOP till Clinton, assuming the Japanese-American internment during the FDR era had some impact.

Japanese Americans are one of the least religious Asian groups and Asians overall are very non religious. That would explain their voting patterns. It would be interesting to find out how they voted before the 90's.

[memphis]

States with largest difference between large and small counties:

MD   46.79
TN   39.81
GA   39.66
MO   37.2
KY   35.74

Heavily minority large counties and lily white hillbilly small counties.

[they don't love you like i love you]

Just something I read once. Came down to class really, Japanese Americans are rather affluent while Koreans and Chinese tend to be working class. Never read any actual income statistics or bothered to compare voting patterns of various areas though.

[Ebowed]

Plains

North Dakota (All Small)
McCain - 53.07%
Obama - 44.47%

South Dakota (All Small)
McCain - 53.16%
Obama - 44.75%

Nebraska (Large)
Obama - 51.54%
McCain - 46.78%

Nebraska (Small)
McCain - 64.26%
Obama - 33.72%

Kansas (Large)
McCain - 54.29%
Obama - 43.82%

Kansas (Small)
McCain - 57.88%
Obama - 40.15%

Oklahoma (Large)
McCain - 60.52%
Obama - 39.48%

Oklahoma (Small)
McCain - 69.61%
Obama - 30.39%

Texas (Large)
Obama - 49.64%
McCain - 49.32%

Texas (Small)
McCain - 66.06%
Obama - 33.06%

[Ebowed]

List of counties where over 100,000 votes were cast (in order of which state had the highest proportion of statewide votes coming from said counties)*

District of Columbia - 100%
Massachusetts (Barnstable, Bristol, Essex, Hampden, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, Suffolk, Worcester) - 93.48%
California (Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Kern, Los Angeles, Marin, Monterey, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francis, San Joaquin, Sain Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tulare, Ventura) - 92.25%
New Jersey (Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Union) - 91.38%
Nevada (Clark, Washoe) - 85.92%
Arizona (Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Yavapai) - 85.59%
Florida (Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Collier, Duval, Escambia, Hillsborough, Lake, Lee, Leon, Manatee, Marion, Miami-Dade, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, St. Johns, St. Lucie, Sarasota, Seminole, Volusia) - 84.31%
Connecticut (Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven, New London) - 81.02%
Maryland (Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Frederick, Harford, Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's, Baltimore City) - 79.02%
New York (Suffolk, Nassau, Kings, Queens, New York, Bronx, Richmond, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Dutchess, Albany, Saratoga, Onondaga, Monroe, Erie) - 78.73%
Colorado (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Weld) - 77.55%
Washington (Clark, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish, Spokane, Thurston, Whatcom) - 76.58%
Pennsylvania (Allegheny, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lehigh, Luzerne, Montgomery, Northampton, Philadelphia, Westmoreland) - 72.62%
Illinois (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Madison, St. Clair, Sangamon, Will, Winnebago) - 71.58%
Hawaii (Honolulu) - 67.64%
Utah (Davis, Salt Lake, Utah) - 66.39%
Oregon (Clackamas, Jackson, Lane, Marion, Multnomah, Washington) - 65.74%
Michigan (Genesee, Ingham, Kalamazoo, Kent, Macomb, Oakland, Saginaw, Washtenaw, Wayne) - 63.85%
Texas (Bexar, Brazoria, Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Hidalgo, Montgomery, Nueces, Tarrant, Travis, Williamson) - 63.76%
Delaware (New Castle) - 62.19%
Ohio (Butler, Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Lake, Lorain, Lucas, Mahoning, Montgomery, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Warren) - 59.49%
Minnesota (Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, St. Louis, Washington) - 55.14%
Missouri (Clay, Greene, Jackson, Jefferson, St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Louis City) - 54.62%
Rhode Island (Providence) - 53.76%
New Hampshire (Hillsborough, Rockingham) - 52.40%
Nebraska (Douglas, Lancaster) - 44.20%
Oklahoma (Cleveland, Oklahoma, Tulsa) - 43.64%
South Carolina (Charleston, Greenville, Horry, Lexington, Richland, Spartanburg) - 43.35%
Tennessee (Davidson, Hamilton, Knox, Rutherford, Shelby) - 42.50%
Wisconsin (Brown, Dane, Milwaukee, Racine, Waukesha) - 40.77%
North Carolina (Buncombe, Cumberland, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Wake) - 40.59%
Kansas (Johnson, Sedgwick) - 38.59%
Louisiana (Caddo, East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Tammany) - 37.95%
Maine (Cumberland, York) - 37.55%
Georgia (Chatham, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett) - 36.77%
Alabama (Jefferson, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery) - 36.08%
Indiana (Allen, Hamilton, Lake, Marion, St. Joseph) - 35.83%
New Mexico (Bernalillo) - 34.43%
Idaho (Ada) - 27.46%
Kentucky (Fayette, Jefferson) - 26.41%
Iowa (Linn, Polk) - 21.32%
Arkansas (Pulaski) - 14.85%
Mississippi (Hinds) - 8.44%

*Does not include Virginia.

[phk]

Japanese Americans tend to be fairly Republican.

Really? I thought Japanese were among the most Democratic Asian-American voters, having neither the Chinese and Vietnamese anti-Communist thing nor Filipino- or Korean-style Christian conservatism.

Not since the 1990s at least. They were probably GOP till Clinton, assuming the Japanese-American internment during the FDR era had some impact.

Japanese Americans are one of the least religious Asian groups and Asians overall are very non religious. That would explain their voting patterns. It would be interesting to find out how they voted before the 90's.

Yeah, but the RR wasn't a politically potent force till like 1994 and Japanese-Americans seem to be regressing pretty fast to the mean culturally.

If I had to guess

1988-2008 - Dem
1972-1984 - GOP
Though I'm sure in the 1930s/1940s they would have been GOP, internment issues and such.
No idea before that.