(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) American college towns became the avid supporters of Democrats over the years, which damages the Republican Party’s ability to win elections in key swing states.
The American Communities Project cataloged the voting patterns of 171 “college towns,” where major colleges or universities are located and account for much of their economic activity, the Daily Caller reported. It was revealed that the towns have seen a dramatic increase in support of Democrats since the 2000 presidential election, with over two-thirds now being expressly Democratic.
Thirty-eight towns flipped from being predominantly Republican to Democratic, while 79 left-leaning towns started to support Democrats even more, in terms of average vote shares during elections. By contrast, only 47 right-leaning towns became more Republican and just six college towns flipped their political ideology.
In the 2000 election, 48% of all college towns in the country voted for Democratic Vice President Al Gore. In 2020, that number had increased to 54% for Joe Biden.
In addition to that, among the college towns and counties where support had shifted, several were in prominent “swing states” where presidential elections are often decided, among which is Dane County, where the University of Wisconsin—Madison is located, and where the Democratic margin of victory in the recent state Supreme Court election was higher than any other county.
In Washtenaw County, the home of the University of Michigan, voters chose Biden over Donald Trump in the 2020 election by a margin of over 50%, which is approximately 101,000 votes. If Hillary Clinton obtained such a margin in 2016, she would have won the state of Michigan, which Trump won that year.
In Larimer County, the location of Colorado State University, the Democratic margin of victory in 2020 increased by 169,000 votes over the 2000 election, while the Republican margin increased only by 21,000 votes.
“This is a really big deal,” Mark Graul, a former campaign manager for President George W. Bush in Wisconsin in 2004, said. “[The shift is] truly making it impossible for Republicans to win a statewide race.”
The overall nationwide gap between both parties among college-educated voters in 2020 was over 1 million votes, in favor of Democrats.
