Rural Voters Have Shifted To The GOP Over The Last Three Presidential Elections

(McClatchyDC)

Donald Trump’s massive victories in rural America in the 2016 election are part of a decade-long trend that has favored the GOP.

The president is hoping to further strengthen his advantage with this critical group ahead of a tough re-election fight in 2020, while Democrats are seeking to make inroads with these voters in places such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

While Democrats have increasingly relied on urban and suburban voters, they had greater success in rural areas in the not-so-distant past. In 2008, Barack Obama won nearly a quarter of non-metro counties. Read more