The largely unexpected rise in support for Republican and Democratic presidential candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders — who represent two vastly different viewpoints — reflects how polarized Americans are on the political spectrum. The differences can be seen even within states where the political leanings of residents in one county can differ substantially from that of another.
Based on voting data compiled by political news organization Politico, 24/7 Wall St. measured the political leanings of county residents nationwide. The measures used to identify the most Republican-leaning county in each state include the percentage of county residents voting for Republican candidate Mitt Romney in 2012 and the county’s chosen representatives to the House and the Senate in the past five election cycles.
Here are the most Republican counties of the largest states in the country:
CALIFORNIA
Reddest county: Amador County
Amador County is a Republican stronghold in a predominantly blue state. While nearly 60% of California voters cast their ballot for Obama, only 40% of voters in Amador County voted for the president. The county is represented by Rep. Tom McClintock of the 4th District, one of just 14 Republicans representing the state’s 53 congressional districts. Both senators -- Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer -- are longstanding Democrats.
TEXAS
Reddest county: King County
Ted Cruz, one of Texas’s two Republican Senators, is currently vying for the Republican presidential nomination. A traditionally conservative state, all 38 of Texas’s electoral votes went to Romney in 2012. Still, no county in the Lone Star State is more conservative than King County, where only five of the 145 people who voted chose Obama in 2012. King County voters also appear satisfied with their Republican representative. Rep. Mac Thornberry has been elected to the U.S. House of Representative in each of the past five congressional elections.
FLORIDA
Reddest county: Baker County
In 2012, Romney won 79.0% of the votes cast in Baker County. The most Republican leaning county in the state, Baker County voters have helped elect Republican Ander Crenshaw to the U.S. House of Representatives in each of the last five congressional elections. Florida Senator Marco Rubio is currently vying for the GOP’s presidential nomination.
NEW YORK
Reddest county: Allegany County
While a majority of Allegany County voted for Romney in the 2012 presidential election, the county's voting record in congressional elections has not always supported Republicans. In two of the last five elections, county voters favored a Democrat to represent New York’s 23rd District. Republican Rep. Tom Reed II currently holds the seat. As in many other Republican-leaning counties, Allegany County residents are predominantly white, with nearly 95% of residents identifying solely as white.
ILLINOIS
Reddest county: Wayne County
Obama started his political career in Illinois as a political organizer, later going on to win election to the Senate by the largest margin in Illinois history. However, admiration for Obama is not ubiquitous across the state. In 2012, just 19.7% of Wayne County voters voted for Obama, while 78.0% of voters favored Romney. As is the case in many other Republican-leaning areas, the vast majority of Wayne residents are white. Approximately 97% of Wayne residents identify as white, far higher than the 62.8% national average and in stark contrast with the minority of residents who identify as white in Illinois’s bluest county, Cook.
PENNSYLVANIA
Reddest county: Fulton County
With 47.0% votes going to Romney and 52.0% going to Obama, Pennsylvania had one of the closest presidential elections of any state in 2012. In Fulton County, however, the vote was less divisive. More than three-fourths of votes in the county went to Romney, the highest share in the state. In addition to voting for the Republican presidential candidate, the congressional district that covers the county has elected the same Republican to the House of Representatives for the past seven elections.
OHIO
Reddest county: Mercer County
Romney won 76.6% of the 2012 votes cast in Mercer County, the highest share of any county in Ohio. In addition, all three of the congressional districts making up parts of the country are represented by Republicans, including, until October 2015, former Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner. Like many other Republican-leaning counties, more than 96% of Mercer County’s residents identify as white, well above the national composition.
GEORGIA
Reddest county: Dawson County
Romney won 86.4% of the 2012 votes cast in Dawson County, the highest share of any county in Georgia. Additionally, in each of the last five congressional elections, county voters have helped elect a Republican to Washington. Like many of the most Republican-leaning counties nationwide, the racial composition of Dawson County residents is not especially diverse, with 92.8% of residents identifying solely as white.
NORTH CAROLINA
Reddest county: Yadkin County
While Romney garnered majority support in North Carolina during the 2012 presidential election, only three of North Carolina’s 13 representatives in the House are Democrats. Yadkin County residents are among the most conservative. Three-quarters of the county’s nearly 17,000 votes were cast for Romney in 2012. Additionally, the county is represented by Rep. Virginia Foxx of the 5th District, who ranked among the most conservative members of Congress in separate studies by the National Journal and the American Conservative Union.
MICHIGAN
Reddest county: Ottawa County
Michigan has gone to a Democrat in every presidential election since 1992, including supporting President Obama in 2012 with 54% of the votes. In Ottawa County, however, 66.7% of the votes were for Republican candidate Romney, the highest share of any county in Michigan. Unlike predominantly Republican counties in most states, more than 30% of residents have at least a bachelor’s degree, a slightly higher educational attainment rate than the national rate.
See the most Republican counties in all the states:
More about the most Republican counties in every state
In a recent report from the policy think tank Pew Research Center, researchers found that Republican politicians tend to find their support among financially well-off voters, while the least financially secure Americans are considerably more likely to support Democrats.
In general, people living in the reddest counties tend to be better-off financially compared to Democratic-leaning areas. In 32 states, residents of the most Republican-leaning county have a higher annual median household income than residents of the state's bluest county.
While counties with strong Republican support tend to be wealthier, residents in these areas also tend to have lower educational attainment rates compared to the bluest counties. The percentage of adults who have attained at least a bachelor’s degree is lower than the comparable national rate of 29.3% in 39 of the 50 reddest counties. This is the case in just 26 of the bluest counties.
The racial composition of these counties can also help explain the Republican leanings of the area’s residents. The vast majority of residents in most of the reddest counties identify as white. In only three of the reddest counties a lower share of residents identify as white than the national share of 63% of Americans who identify as white. On the other hand, 28 of the bluest counties have smaller shares of white populations compared to the national average composition.
Voters in the reddest counties were almost always more likely than residents of other counties to vote Republican during the 2012 presidential election, and the share of votes cast for Romney were almost always a majority. However, in four of the reddest counties — Honolulu County, Hawaii; Plymouth County, Massachusetts; Washington County, Rhode Island; and Essex County, Vermont — a majority of residents voted to re-elect President Barack Obama in 2012. In these counties, Romney still captured the largest shares of votes compared to other counties in the state.
Some of the reddest counties are not as red as those in other states. Litchfield County, Connecticut, for example, has sent Democratic Rep. John Larson to Congress since 1999, yet gave 51.1% of its vote to Romney in 2012.
24/7 Wall St. is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news and commentary. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.
