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Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for March 15, 2018
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
March 15, 2018: In 2008 and 2012, President Obama inspired high voter turnout from what some called the “rising American electorate.” Some Democratic strategists believed this new coalition of voters would keep Republicans out of the White House for years to come. However, 4.4 million people who voted for Obama in 2012 didn’t show up to vote at all in 2016.[1]
Most of these non-voters made less than $50,000 a year, 23% were under 30, and 51% were non-white.
Six million Obama voters switched and voted for President Trump. Just over 2 million voted for a third-party candidate.
Ballotpedia has done extensive research on Pivot Counties. These are the 206 counties that voted twice for Barack Obama and then voted for Donald Trump. Voters in these counties cast just 5% of the ballots in 2016, but they accounted for 51% of the Republican popular vote gains.
These counties have been featured in several Numbers of the Day:
- 19 percentage point gap between Pivot Counties and Democratic counties on gun issue (August 24, 2017)
- 5 Pivot Counties in Indiana that voted twice for Barack Obama and then for Donald Trump (August 3, 2017)
- 8 Pivot Counties in Maine that voted twice for Barack Obama, then voted for Donald Trump (July 17, 2017)
- 19 Democratic senators running for re-election in states with Pivot Counties (June 22, 2017)
- 23 Pivot Counties in Wisconsin that voted twice for Obama then voted for Trump (June 7, 2017)
- 9 Pivot Counties in Ohio that voted twice for Barack Obama and then voted for Donald Trump (May 30, 2017)
- 3 Pivot Counties in Pennsylvania that voted twice for Obama and then voted for Trump (May 22, 2017)
- 12 Pivot Counties in Michigan that voted twice for Barack Obama and then for Donald Trump (May 15, 2017)
- 31: Pivot Counties in Iowa That Voted Twice for Obama and Then Voted for Trump (March 31, 2017)
- 206: Pivot Counties that voted for President Obama in 2008 and 2012, and for President Trump in 2016 (March 20, 2017)
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- March 14, 2018 – 11 percent of Americans don’t use the internet
- March 13, 2018 – 2 states have never sent a woman to Congress
- March 12, 2018 – 48 congressional districts with no Republican candidate
- March 9, 2018 – 88% of young adults use social media platforms; just 37% of seniors do the same
- March 8, 2018 – 10 percent of All U.S. voters voted for Donald Trump but thought he was unqualified to serve as president
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Click here to check out the latest update.
The Number of the Day is broadcast on local stations across the country. An archive of these broadcasts can be found here.
Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
Ballotpedia is the nonprofit, nonpartisan Encyclopedia of American Politics.
See also
- Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day
- Pivot Counties: The counties that voted Obama-Obama-Trump from 2008-2016
Footnotes
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