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Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for March 15, 2018

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By Scott Rasmussen

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:


Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.


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.

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